Barbed wire on Howrah bridge to foil suicide bids

KOLKATA: While Hemant Guhait, the youth who attempted suicide by jumping off Howrah bridge (Rabindra Setu) on Friday evening, was admitted to Pavlov Institute by the Kolkata Police on Saturday, authorities have urged contractors to speed up work on installing barbed wire on top of the bridge’s fence, the height of which has been raised.

While work has begun on the Kolkata-end, much of the bridge remains to be covered.
“Once the barbed wire is in place, people like, Guhait, won’t be able to cross the fence. The height of the fence is nearly seven feet now and is difficult to climb. Guhait, however, proved that it is not impossible. On Saturday, we took the youth from Dibrugarh in Assam to psychiatrists at SSKM Hospital. They said he required immediate treatment. We have admitted him to Pavlov Institute after taking the court’s permission. Efforts are on to trace his family,” a senior Kolkata Police officer said.
The 31-year-old man on Friday precariously hung onto the 6ft-high pedestrian railings on Howrah bridge installed to prevent suicides for over three-and-a-half hours, keeping more than 30 cops and fire brigade personnel on tenterhooks. Such an incident requires the diversion of several resources, including police and fire services personnel as well as boats. It inconveniences people as movement on the bridge has to be restricted.
Millions use the 75-yearold bridge daily. “Many are on their way to the Howrah station to catch trains. Any congestion on the bridge has a cascading effect and vehicles get held up along Strand Road and Mahatma Gandhi Road. We had urged Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), the custodians of the bridge, to raise the height of the fence to dissuade people from climbing on it. While the fence has been raised, work on the installation of barbed wires is on. Though cops are posted on the bridge, it is not always possible to spot an offender. We also plan to install cameras for better monitoring,” an officer said.