Timings for traffic on Parama flyover in Kolkata still not finalized

The Parama flyover has been named ‘Ma’ but, there appears to be plenty of confusion on when traffic would be allowed to operate from which direction. Of course, for flyover, there is usually no restriction on timings and traffic moves equally fast from both sides – but, in Kolkata, things are not like other places.
The Kolkata Police are right now in a fix. They are unable to finalize the timings for traffic on the newly opened Parama flyover (aka Ma) that connects Park Circus to EM Bypass. The police have yet again changed the timings for the Parama flyover in order to distribute the load of vehicular traffic equally on and off the flyover during the morning and evening peak hours.
As per the new plan introduced last week, vehicles from the city can travel towards the EM Bypass from 9am to 9pm while from 9pm till 9am the next morning, the flyover is open to traffic both ways. Even though one-way movement takes off at 9am, traffic sources said city-bound traffic would be barred from taking the flyover from the Bypass end at least 15 minutes earlier.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 28 October 2015.

Till last week, the timings for flyover had been synchronized with vehicle movement on Park Street. This means, vehicles could enter the city from the Bypass end of the flyover till 1pm and go in the reverse direction from 1pm till 10pm.
Traffic timings on the new flyover have already seen multiple changes since its inauguration earlier this month. And, it is understood that the new traffic model would be in force till around Diwali and reviewed later. The police plan to hold a meeting with other agencies to review the situation around that time.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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Giant wheels in Puja pandals despite ban by the KMC

Durga Puja is an annual festival of the masses and there are fairs held at many of the venues where different types of entertainment are available to cater to different tastes of the people who come to visit. Many of the visitors are children and they love rides on giant wheels. But, following a fatal accident, the Kolkata Police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC had imposed a ban on these wheels. However, the wheels continue to return every year despite the ban.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 18 October 2015.

This year, giant wheels are there in Kumartuli Park puja - it is much taller than a four-storey building. Other locations are the Mohammed Ali Park puja – its reasoning is that the incident that occurred a couple of years ago was just an accident. Giant wheels are also there in Park Circus, Sinthi More, Santosh Mitra Square, Kankurgachi Jubakbrinda etcetera.
The giant wheels are popular all over the world with children and adults alike and the KMC should have a system to check out the serviceability and condition of the equipment and also on persons who take the ride. Banning a relatively cheap form of entertainment is not a solution.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Parama Island flyover adds to traffic jams in Kolkata – made one-way

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had thrown open the Parama Island flyover on 9th October but within these few days, there is traffic chaos on this stretch and the Kolkata Police had to step in and make it one-way to restrict the flow of traffic.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 14 October 2015.

Usually, flyovers are constructed to ease the flow of traffic and handles traffic from both directions. In the case of Parama, it appears that some portion of work is yet to be completed. Once complete, it is hoped that traffic movement would improve. Obviously, inauguration of an incomplete flyover could have been avoided and a more appropriate date could have been decided upon.
Under the circumstances, as announced by Kolkata Commissioner, a one-way system would come into effect immediately and would be in force until Lakshmi Puja by which time, things would be resolved. The system is - from 7 am to 1pm all traffic bound for Park Circus would be allowed while from 1pm to 10pm traffic bound for EM Bypass would be allowed. On Saturday and Sunday, traffic from both ways would be allowed.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Kolkata Police to send cake with birthday greetings to 12000 senior citizens of Pronam

The Kolkata Police have a system of honoring twelve thousand senior citizens who get a card from Calcutta police every birthday – they would henceforth get a cake with it to sweeten up the occasion. This would be possible because of the largesse of Mayor Sovan Chatterjee who has announced an annual aid of Rs 50 lakh.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 3 June 2015.

Pronam is a welfare project for elderly people by the Kolkata Police in partnership with The Bengal and the announcement was made by the mayor at the annual day program of Pronam's south-west division at Sarat Sadan, Behala. The event was also attended by education minister Partha Chatterjee and Calcutta police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha.
It may be recalled that last year, 3,000 Pronam members were taken pandal-hopping during the Durga Puja. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Good news for the ladies of Kolkata – CCTVs in buses will provide safety

Kolkata is setting a trend towards providing better safety to the women of Kolkata when they opt to travel by the JNNURM buses of the state-run Calcutta State Transport Corporation. It has installed CCTVs in 632 buses at the rate of three for every bus.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 15 April 2015.

Two of the CCTVs will be installed inside the bus, one in the front, another at the center and the third will be located externally at the rear of the vehicle to record movement of vehicles on the road in the vicinity.
The storage capacity would be 100GB for each bus and in the initial stages, the footage captured by the CCTVs would be stored for three days. Later it would be overwritten automatically. Therefore, anyone having any complaint of theft, or pickpocketing, or bad behavior by the ticket-conductor or the bus driver or any other problem would have to register the same within three days.
Moreover, the CCTV footage would help in investigating accidents.
Officers of the Kolkata Police have carried out an inspection of the buses and have expressed satisfaction with the camera surveillance system.
On the face of it, this appears to be what the city needs but, installing this on only 632 buses may not be sufficient – these buses would probably operate on only a few select routes and, routes where instances of crimes are more may not be covered. As per information on CSTC website, it has a total of 840 buses – the remaining would also need to be brought under CCTV surveillance. And - care must be taken to ensure that no one steals the CCTV units - they can fetch a couple of hundred rupees per piece.

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