The dividing bridge at the centre of Salt Lake violence

Time of India

14 hours ago

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Kolkata: Salt Lake residents turned jittery after houses and gardens were vandalised on Wednesday, when a group of slum dwellers from the Kestopur Canal Road area hurled stones at police and targeted homes across the canal.
The violence started moments after a 20-year-old app-based bike rider was killed when a private car rammed into his two-wheeler near the bridge connecting Salt Lake's AK Block with Kestopur Canal Road.
While biker Soumen Mondal died, the pillion rider escaped with minor injuries.
The new bridge seems to be the bone of contention. Vehicles speeding down the bridge and chaotic traffic management, long-standing socio-economic tensions and visible social divide—bungalow-style houses in Salt Lake on one side of the canal and rows of shanties on the other side in Kestopur—are being seen as possible triggers for the clash.
People living on both sides of the canal seemed united in their anger at police and the social divide, albeit each group had their own point of view.
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"Ever since the bridge opened, large cars keep speeding past our homes, scaring our children. Earlier we could sit by the roadside. Now we can't even sleep peacefully at homes," said Sandhya Maji, who lives at Ghoshpara in Kestopur. Akash Mondal, who lives at Siddharthanagar in Kestopur, is apparently upset over being forced to come under police glare.
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Before the bridge was built, the strip of road in Kestopur did not have a direct link to main roads and consequently, remained away from cop monitoring.
"Earlier, people riding their bikes in the locality did not have to bother about rules. Now, police fine us for almost every other reason—be it riding without helmets or skipping a signal," he said.
The bridge, opened in Oct 2022, has become a key link for vehicles to and from Salt Lake and Kestopur and Baguiati.
Pratik Banerjee, a resident of Sarat Abasan in Salt Lake, said, "What happened on Wednesday was scary. We shut our doors and windows, fearing attack on our house." Banerjee, a retired govt official, claimed the bridge had opened the door to more criminal activity, with a majority of perpetrators entering Salt Lake from the Kestopur side. "Petty theft has gone up. Criminals now have an easy exit from the township. Even disputes among slum dwellers sometimes spill over into Salt Lake.
Police should intensify patrolling to prevent vandalism," he said.
Motorists claimed traffic management lapses at that spot could have contributed to Wednesday's accident. At the crossroad, there was no 'stop' line or zebra crossing. A traffic sergeant and two civic volunteers were usually deployed there and they struggled to regulate the rush of vehicles from the four sides. The CCTV footage released by police showed biker Mondal stopping just before the signal, when the private vehicle hit him.
The vehicle dragged Mondal to the roadside railing before both the vehicles burst into flames, leading to Mondal's death. "Had there been a 'stop' line and the bike had halted behind it, the biker could be saved," said Babla Sarkar, a motorist who drove past the bridge on Thursday.
Lokenath Debnath, a delivery executive, said faulty signals gave bikers entering Salt Lake the impression of a free left turn, bringing them onto the path of oncoming traffic.
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