Abhishek Banerjee's Promise Sparks Action: PWD Plans Accelerated Construction of Haldibari RoB

Four hours after Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee declared a road overbridge (RoB) at Haldibari in Cooch Behar, the senior brass of the public works department convened on Friday night.

During a public meeting on Friday in Dhupguri, Jalpaiguri, Abhishek pledged to finish the Haldibari RoB within six months of the elections ending.

According to reports, the PWD convened to discuss how to complete the project in six months.

"Abhishek's public meeting concluded at around 5:30 p.m., and the PWD convened a meeting with the chief engineers of north Bengal and headquarters (Calcutta) in attendance at approximately 9 p.m. According to a senior administrator, the conference was called when Nabanna's top brass requested that the PWD figure out how to finish the project in six months.

The planned bridge at Haldibari is situated on the border between Bangladesh and India, in the Cooch Behar district, some 26 kilometers from Jalpaiguri. The town is within the jurisdiction of the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat and the Mekhliganj Assembly seat.

We now know that Haldibari town needs a 150-meter-long road overbridge to cross the railroad. About a lakh individuals would have less inconvenience as a result. For the project, an amount of Rs 18 to 20 crore is needed. Within six months after the polls, the state government would construct it, I claim, Abhishek had said.

The railway lines that go through the center of Haldibari reach Bangladesh as well. People wait to cross across to the opposite side of the town as trains pass by often.

According to sources, a group of PWD officials measured the area on Saturday at the Haldibari location.

A few officials questioned if other projects, such as the 21 road overbridges approved in 2014–15—the majority of which remain unfinished—had received the same level of expediency.

"As nothing is commissioned, the meeting does not violate the model code of conduct. However, it sends the wrong message if the department limits its promptness to projects announced by Abhishek Banerjee," an official said.

An official said, "People in Suri, Bishnupur, Bhedia, and Talit—where the RoBs haven't been finished in the last eight to ten years—may be forced to believe that these projects won't get finished until Abhishek promises they will."

According to a source, because the general election is done in June, it is quite unlikely that the RoB would be finished by December.

Norms require the state to submit a proposal to the railroads whenever the RoB crosses a state highway. In order to determine the TVU (traffic vehicle unit) at the crossing where the RoB is intended, the railways request a survey. The railroads only approve a RoB if the TVU surpasses one lakh in a single day.

According to sources, a level crossing's vulnerability is expressed in terms of TVU, which is calculated by multiplying the number of trains by the total number of vehicles that cross the crossing in a given day. Road vehicles, trains, bullock carts, and tangas are all counted as one unit each, while cycle rickshaws and autorickshaws are worth half a unit each. In order to get the average 25-hour TVU at a crossing, the survey is conducted for a week.

"After obtaining authorization, the state drafts a DPR for the railroads to approve. The state then issues tenders. The issue of setting up land is another. The deadline of December seems to be difficult, the person said.