A team of 10 policemen, including sergeants, will be deployed on the Parama flyover between the Park Circus-end and the points where the two ramps of the flyover land on EM Bypass for better management of traffic, officers of Kolkata police said.
The team members will be drawn from the Tiljala and East traffic guards. They will be deployed at different points along the route with a brief to intervene and inform superiors if there is any disruption to traffic on the flyover. The deployment will start this week.
“The carriageway of the Parama flyover has several turns and the officers will be positioned at some of the turns so that they can clearly see the movement of vehicles on both flanks,” said a senior police officer of Kolkata police. “The idea is to ensure faster intervention.”
The 7.5km-long flyover, which connects EM Bypass with the AJC Bose Road flyover, has undergone several structural changes since the time it was inaugurated. The volume of traffic it handles has increased manifold since it was linked to the AJC Bose Road flyover in 2019.
The police said uninterrupted movement from one end to another, without having to stop at any signal post, has been the biggest draw for motorists.
“Over 150 vehicles reach the crossing of Race Course Road and AJC Bose Road after descending from the flyover every minute,” an officer said.
CCTV cameras installed along the flyover help officers sitting in the offices of the Tiljala and East traffic guards monitor the traffic. “But the sharp rise in the number of vehicles using the flyover has made it necessary to deploy officers along the carriageway for better monitoring of traffic,” an officer said.
The flyover does not have any gaps in the median divider through which vehicles can switch flanks.
“It’s a challenge to keep traffic moving when a vehicle suddenly develops a snag and comes to a halt on a flank,” the officer said. “That happens almost every day and officers have to rush to the spot to control the situation.”
The 10 cops who will be deployed on the flyover will coordinate among themselves to minimise the reaction time and the disruption to traffic in the event of an accident or a vehicle breakdown, senior officers at the police headquarters in Lalbazar said.
“Two tow-away vans are kept ready to attend to vehicles on the flyover. Kiosks, too, have been set up on the flyover. We now want this team of 10 officers to handle any emergency on the flyover in the quickest possible time,” the officer said.
With the rise in vehicle count, the effects of even a slight disruption on the Parama flyover can be felt on EM Bypass and the AJC Bose Road flyover.
“The morning school hours or office time in the evening can become really challenging even if there is a minor disruption on the flyover. We want to reduce this as far as possible,” the police officer said.
