Senior officers from the Kolkata traffic department on Thursday conducted on-ground inspections along Diamond Harbour Road near the ESI Hospital in Joka and at the Behala Chowrasta intersection, launching a renewed road safety drive in response to a recent spate of fatal crashes. The intervention comes after multiple deaths were recorded within days on this critical south-western corridor, underscoring persistent risks at high-footfall hospital zones.
The stretch near the state-run hospital has long functioned as both a transport artery and a local marketplace. Auto-rickshaws, informal vendors, pedestrians and emergency vehicles converge in a constrained right-of-way, creating conflict points that intensify during peak hours. According to traffic officials, five fatalities in three separate incidents over ten days prompted immediate enforcement and design-based corrections. Authorities have introduced several measures aimed at improving road safety. These include reconfiguring access at the hospital gate, restricting specific turning movements, and installing rumble strips and convex mirrors to enhance driver awareness. Pedestrian crossings and channelisation points are also being monitored to ensure safer movement across the carriageway. A senior officer overseeing the review said the objective was not limited to enforcement but behavioural change. Interactions were held with auto operators, street vendors and pedestrians to emphasise disciplined stopping patterns, unobstructed ambulance access and the use of designated zebra crossings.
At Behala Chowrasta, where eight auto routes originate and pedestrian volumes are among the highest on Diamond Harbour Road, commuters were advised to observe signal cycles strictly before crossing. Urban mobility experts note that hospital districts are particularly vulnerable nodes within city transport systems. They combine emotional urgency, unpredictable pedestrian flows and informal transport halts. Without calibrated traffic calming and street design improvements, such zones can become recurring accident hotspots. The episode also reflects a broader challenge facing Kolkata’s southern growth belt. As residential clusters expand towards Joka and Thakurpukur, vehicular volumes have risen faster than footpath capacity and crossing infrastructure. Informal commerce further narrows safe walking space, raising questions about inclusive street planning and enforcement consistency.
Road safety campaigns, while essential, are most effective when combined with structural redesign, experts argue. Measures such as protected pedestrian refuges, better lighting, clearly demarcated vending zones and coordinated public transport bays can reduce friction between users. For a city pursuing more people-centric and climate-resilient mobility strategies, addressing road safety on arterial corridors is not merely a policing exercise. It is integral to equitable urban growth. Ensuring that hospital access routes remain safe, accessible and obstruction-free will be critical as Kolkata balances densification with public health infrastructure expansion. The traffic department has indicated that monitoring will continue in the coming weeks, with further adjustments possible based on ground feedback and accident data.
