The police have announced major traffic diversions in Kolkata on July 26 and July 27 owing to maintenance work on two major bridges connecting the city with Howrah. Diversions will be in place towards the Vidyasagar Setu on Sunday and on the Bally Bridge on Monday.
According to an order issued by Howrah Police Commissioner Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi, traffic will be restricted on both the Vidyasagar Setu (second Hooghly Bridge) and the Kona Expressway from 5.30 am to 6.30 pm on Sunday because of cable replacement and repair work on the bridge. Small vehicles and buses heading to Kolkata will be diverted via the Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu), Nivedita Setu, or the Bally Bridge.
Alternative routes have also been arranged for small vehicles heading towards Santragachi station. One lane of the Bally Bridge will remain closed, while buses will run via Nivedita Setu.
On Monday, one lane of the Bally Bridge (Vivekananda Setu) leading towards Delhi Road and Bombay Road will be temporarily closed because of maintenance work carried out by the Public Works Department.
Vital rail-and-road link between Kolkata and Howrah
Built in 1931 as the Willingdon Bridge, the 880-meter-long multispan truss structure popularly known as Bally Bridge or Vivekananda Setu, serves as a vital rail-and-road link connecting Bally in Howrah to Dakshineswar in Kolkata.
Comprehensive renovation projects on Bally Bridge focus on structural retrofitting, repairing asphalt expansion joints, strengthening worn steel trusses, and replacing damaged road flanks. Because the bridge handles both heavy vehicular traffic and key railway lines such as the Sealdah–Dankuni route, major repairs typically require temporary, phased closures of specific road flanks.
During these maintenance drives, local traffic authorities re-route vehicles, often diverting heavy transport via Nivedita Setu to allow engineers to perform concrete re-decking and structural reinforcements without compromising public safety or disrupting essential rail connections.
The West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association has written a letter to the Howrah district magistrate seeking urgent intervention.
Affected services
Details of private and government bus services on the affected routes are as follows:
NDRTC: 70 buses
Shyambazar to Bagnan: 56 buses
Howrah to Dankuni: 40 buses
Ghatal to Kolkata Station: 38 buses
Route 79: 36 buses
Bally Halt to Karunamoyee: 32 buses
Dankuni to Kamalgazi: 30 buses
Alampur to Shapoorji: 28 buses
Barasat to Uluberia: 26 buses
Route 26: 25 buses
Salap to Barrackpore: 23 buses
Barasat to Dankuni: 22 buses
The traffic diversions will also affect government buses (including AC 23, AC 50) and several others operating via Dankuni, Salap, Amtala, Barasat, and Digha.