Fire engulfs shanties at Lord’s Crossing in S Kolkata
A massive fire broke out in the shanties near Lord's crossing this afternoon. Sixteen fire engines were pressed into service.
Emphasising road safety and to promote environmentfriendly modes of transport in city and districts, the state urban development and municipal affairs department has instructed the municipal corporations and urban local bodies (ULBs) to identify stretches in Kolkata and peri-urban areas where cycles could be allowed.
At places like New Town, there are existing cycle lanes spanning over a stretch of around 35km under the New Town Kolkata Development Authority. Even in Kolkata, there are lanes parallel to the main thoroughfares. “The parallel lanes exist giving way to the main roads. The UDMA is exploring options if those could be used as cycle lanes.
The department wishes the traffic police and the municipal corporation of the specific municipal bodies to jointly chalk out plans to identify and develop one lane to the cyclists so that they do not come in the way of the high motorized zones,” informed an official source in the department. Notably, there are around 42 ULBs under the Kolkata Metropolitan area.
Advertisement
The ULBs in the peri-urban areas also have been instructed to identify stretches that could be developed as cycle lanes according to their road safety point of view. “Generally it is observed that accidents taking place involve cyclists and motorcyclists. Internationally, a city is called safe depending on how pedestrians feel about it. Considering the fact, we are also concentrating on developing pavements for pedestrians.
As the road safety level of a city is considered on how much pedestrians are safe in that place, the municipal bodies and ULBs have to create nonmotorized zones for pedestrians. Paving is also done under the Green City Mission Project. At present, there is about 15067km of pavement in 128 ULBs of the state. As we have less space for pedestrians, efforts are being made to create more space for them,” elaborated the source.
Advertisement
