Locals protest Siliguri police bid to plug lane divider gaps

SNS, SILIGURI, 22 MAY 2022: Local people staged a demonstration after the Siliguri Metropolitan Police dosed the gaps in lane dividers at the Eastern Bypass in Siliguri today.

There are around 70 'cuts' on the median dividers on the around 108.8-km long bypass road that has often hit headlines for causing road accidents, sometimes deadly.

According to the police, all they wanted to do was close the gaps on the lane dividers with concrete slabs so as to check such road accidents on the four-lane road.

Local people and school students however protested the police move and said that plugging the gaps would force them to take a long detour when it comes to crossing the road.

The North Bengal Construction Division of the PWD maintains the road.

PWD engineers have pointed out that it was difficult to erect median dividers at some points for free movement. There may be gaps after 500 meters of the median dividers, but there are frequent gaps in the dividers, and the movement of locals there increases the possibility of accidents, they have said.

Several accidents have occurred on the road, especially on a stretch of 1.85 km between Asighar More and Jaleswari market.

"Thousands of people will face problems if the cuts are closed. The cuts on the long dividers help us cross the road. Therefore, we are demanding those should be kept open," said a local, Biplab Sarkar.

The bypass connects two national highways (NH) on two ends--NH-31 and NH 31D.

According to a senior traffic police officer, the move was aimed at preventing road accidents.

"The trend to cross the roads through the cuts is dangerous. lt increases the risk of accidents. We tried to make the people aware that what we were doing was for their safety," the officer said.

The demonstration affected traffic movement on the bypass for some time.