KOLKATA: Hundreds of workers from different agencies are working on a war-footing to meet the challenging target of making Tallah bridge traffic-ready by Thursday. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to inaugurate the new bridge that evening.
From workers and officials of implementing agency PWD and their counterparts in L&T (contracted to build the Rs 468-crore Tallah bridge) to roads department workers of KMC paving the approach road from Shyambazar five-point crossing, there will be frantic activity through the day, and night, to meet the Thursday deadline.
For now, only small and light vehicles will be allowed access because the final load test report, which will be vetted by IIT-Kharagpur, is awaited. Eastern Railway and PWD on Tuesday signed the safety certificate for the bridge. The new bridge is actually a road overbridge (ROB) under Eastern Railway's ambit. A 240m section of the 750m structure stands over the Tallah railway tracks operated by ER.
The bridge, tied by six bowstrings on either sides, is now complete, save the final layer of paving along the approaches, installation of bridge furniture like medians and signage and painting of the crash barriers.
Related construction like staircases are ready too, so is the Chitpore ramp, which is also getting finishing touches of bitumen. As all these were being done on Tuesday, a visibly tired engineer at the site rued: "We don't know how we have all managed to pull this through despite the heavy rains last week. Because of the rains, the Mahalaya (September 25) date was deferred to Chaturthi (September 29), and now we have managed to bring forward the deadline by one whole week."
Thanks to the new bridge, surrounding roads are getting a facelift. A team of KMC's road construction workers reached Shyambazar crossing in the wee hours of Tuesday and immediately got down to paving the 850m stretch between the five-point crossing and the road leading to the new bridge. Additional manpower and road repair gangs were hurriedly mobilised on Monday evening and deployed post midnight. The deadline for completing the stretch is Wednesday morning. "Mayor Firhad Hakim asked DG to repave the section to ensure a smooth ride as one approaches the new bridge," a roads department official said.
Excitement among locals was palpable on Tuesday. "Finally, the wait will be over. You can't imagine what a nightmare commuting has been without the bridge," said Dunlop resident Agamoni Mondol, who works as a nurse at Bagbazar.
