Kolkata, Feb 3: Kolkata police has proposed KMDA ideas oh how to prevent accidents on Maa flyover. Maa flyover is one of the busiest flyovers in Kolkata. Even though its name is ‘Maa’ (Mother), but still it is a death trap on every corner. Bikers and drivers will pay for every small mistake or negligence made, with their lives.
In the last three days alone, there have been two horrific accidents on the Maa flyover. Top officials of Kolkata Police are worried and concerned about one accident after another at the overbridge.
This time, the Kolkata Traffic Police gave a bunch of advice to KMDA (Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority) about the Maa overbridge to prevent accidents. According to KMDA sources, the suggestions sent by Kolkata Police HQ will be implemented soon.
Complaints from several motorists who commute daily over the Maa Over Bridge inlude signboards at various important intersections which are not easily visible to the drivers from a distance. Drivers have difficulty reading from a distance due to the small and vague writing on the board. It is usually too late when the boards are visible, as by then there is a strong risk of an accident with a car moving at high speed from behind.
Kolkata Traffic Police has proposed to KMDA to install larger in size and clearer written directional boards in important places to solve this problem. The proposal also calls for keeping an eye on the boards so that their visibility is maintained even at night.
At the same time, Lalbazar is also paying attention to the written direction of the road so that it can be larger in size on the pitch road. A top Kolkata police official said, “If important directions are written on the road by painting from a long distance in important places, it will be convenient for drivers to change lanes in advance, which will reduce the number of accidents.“
IPS Rijit Sinha, Deputy Commissioner (Traffic), Kolkata Police said “We are also considering increasing the number of traffic sergeants on the flyover to prevent accidents on the Maa flyover.” One of the horrible death traps of Maa is Garia or Ruby bound Lane. This is because the height of the railings on both sides of the lane leading from the Park Circus to Ruby is relatively low. As a result, the possibility of more accidents increases.
Bike riders complain that the height of the railings on both sides of the Ruby-facing lane is much lower than that of the railings on AGC Bose Road and that the road is quite narrow.
As a result, many people are reporting dizziness while getting off the bike by that lane. However, according to KMDA sources, the engineers of the authority have checked and informed the higher authorities that it is not possible to increase the height of the railings keeping in mind the weight adjustment of the bridge.
For this reason, the Kolkata Traffic Police is thinking of installing nets on that road as an alternative way. The KMDA authorities have also been informed of the same idea.
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Incidentally, last Monday, a terrible accident took place in Ruby facing lane of Maa flyover. According to police sources, a car coming from behind hit a bike rider while he was talking on the phone on the flyover. As a result, the bike rider fell from the bridge over the side railing. The middle-aged bike rider, a resident of the suburbs, died in the accident. His girlfriend riding pillion was seriously injured.
Experts believe that if the height of the railings on both sides of the lane was a little higher, the young man’s life could have been saved. Less than 24 hours after the accident, another accident happened at Maa Overbridge.
The next day, on Tuesday morning, a bike rider hit the back of a car. The bike was badly damaged but the driver survived. The Kolkata Police is quite concerned about the traffic on the flyover as one accident after another is happening in this way.
After that, the top officials of Lalbazar sat ina meeting regarding Maa flyover.
“The KMDA is responsible for the maintenance of the flyover, so we have already sent a long proposal to the KMDA authorities on our behalf,” said a senior Kolkata Traffic Police official. According to KMDA sources, the proposals made by the Kolkata Police will be implemented soon.
