Kalimpong foot overbridge project hangs in balance

By: Nisha Chettri
KALIMPONG: The construction of a foot overbridge proposed by Kalimpong Municipality on June 20, 2018 may not start until the dangling electric wires on the road are reorganized, said the architect, Kiran Raisaily. The project seemed to have taken a back seat after the final survey was carried out in various locations of the district earlier.
"The entire town has electric lines that hinder the project.These lines will have to be shifted in the underground or a bridge will have to be built over the wires, which is not possible," said Raisaily who had constructed a foot over bridge in Gangtok earlier.
In a bid to reduce traffic snarls in the town, the civic body had proposed the project that would constitute six entry points from Kalimpong Municipality to Haat Bazaar. As the town lacks adequate land for a flyover, the civic body made the foot overbridge the solution.
However, Rabi Pradhan, chairman of the municipality refused to have a talk on the issue with Raisaily who was hired by the civic body to handle the DPR of the project. The DPR was submitted to the state government after the final survey.
"The architect does not receive our calls, nor he got back to us with the blueprint of the project. He was assigned to make a DPR and take the project forward. He has not submitted to us the physical report of the project. If he is not interested, we can rope in another architect to stop the project from being stuck in a limbo," said the chairman.
The architect was not available on phone to comment on the chairman's allegation. With the traffic jams rising in the town, pedestrians are in dire need of the foot overbridge. Besides, the road does not have pavements for the people going to markets on foot. "There are many schools in the market area and a large number of students have to walk down the road daily. The foot overbridge can solve many problems," said Pramila Tamang, a local.