On weekends, Lal Dighi for walkers only

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that Lal Dighi -the heritage heart of Kolkata -will shortly be made vehicle-free every weekend.

Dalhousie Square is one of the finest precincts of colonial heritage structures, which acted as the embryo of modern metropolitan Calcutta. Once it is made pedestrian-only , the government hopes, the nerve-centre of city's central business district (CBD) will turn into an exquisite heritage tour destination. The Burdwan administration has taken the lead over Kolkata in making one day of the week vehicle-free.

On Friday , Mamata said: "We have decided that Lal Dighi (Dalhousie Square), where offices are closed on Saturdays after 5pm, no vehicle will ply till 10pm on Sunday ." She was speaking at the inauguration of Biswa Bangla Lok Sanskriti Utsav at the great tank at Dalhousie Square. "It might take some time to start the scheme, perhaps some time next year," she said, adding that she has already mooted the proposal to the Kolkata Police commissioner and mayor to implement the new rule early next year. t is indeed a welcome move and will spare the heritage buildings in the area of pollution, but keeping Dalhousie vehiclefree -even on weekends -poses a tough challenge for police because vehicles from Howrah station pass through this zone to the southern parts of the city. Vehicles bound for the station from south Kolkata can be diverted to Strand Road from Red Road either through Kings Way or Shahid Kshudiram Bose Avenue, said a traffic police officer. But the problem is with south-bound vehicles. Around 15-20,000 vehicles from Howrah station and Burrabazar pass through BBD Bag on Saturdays and Sundays towards south and central Kolkata.

The traffic police have three options.The first is to turn Strand Road into a twoway thoroughfare as there is less traffic on weekends. The second option is to divert south-bound vehicles through MG Road sol that they can take the Chittaranjan AvenueJL Nehru Road route. The third option is to divert south-bound vehicles through Brabourne Road, then along the eastern flank of St Andrew's Church before hitting RN Mukherjee Road and Ganesh Chandra Avenue to take Chittaranjan Avenue. Also, a large number of vehicles from Howrah station can take Foreshore Road to Vidyasagar Setu and then move on to south and central Kolkata, said police.Foreshore Road is still a very underutilized road, which take much greater traffic than it is taking now.

"It can be tried out since there is less pressure on weekends. However, they have to be careful that there is no congestion on the routes through which traffic would be diverted. If there is congestion there, pollution will shoot up and it will serve no purpose," said environment activist Subhas Datta.

Mamata is enthused by the idea. She wants people to "roam around freely , have food and enjoy cultural programmes" in the area. Lal Dighi is surrounded by many heritage structures, like Writers' Buildings, GPO and Currency Building, Fairlie Place, Dead Letters Office. "If the road is dedicated only to walkers, heritage will be given utmost importance. it would be a giant leap forward for heritage conservation and promotion," said ASI regional director (east) P K Mishra.