The Old Pontoon Bridge

As late as 1943, the river Hooghly had to be crossed by a Pontoon Bridge (right) to reach Kolkata from Howrah station. With the steady flow of river traffic, the bridge had to be opened from time to time to let the vessels pass. The British administration built a cantilevered bridge that crosses the river in a single 450-metre span with no piers to support it in between. It still dominates the western skyline of the city, a prominent landmark to identify Kolkata even from a great distance.

Bridge on the River Hooghly

Today the Howrah Bridge, renamed Rabindra Setu, is still the main thoroughfare for vehicles crossing over to the twin city of Howrah and other destinations across the country. The rapid increase in vehicular traffic over the last five decades have made the bridge bear a burden many times its original capacity.

The construction of the second Hooghly bridge further downstream has somewhat lessened its load, but still the amount of traffic flowing to and fro is more than what it should ideally be. As such, the condition of this bridge is far from satisfactory. Traffic congestion during the peak hours, gaping holes on the road, the approach on both the banks and the sidewalk encroached by vagrants and hawkers are frequent occurences.

While the bridge cannot be closed totally and maintained as a heritage landmark, strict regulation of traffic and maintenance works should be given top priority. Alternate means of transport like the ferry services could be increased and bulk of the vehicular traffic re-directed to the new bridge, Vidyasagar Setu. It is to be noted that although the second bridge is fully open to traffic now, most people prefer to drive across the Howrah Bridge because Howrah station is practically just at the other end of the bridge. Moreover, the roads connecting the railway station to the new bridge is not at all suited for speedy communication. Unless the condition of this stretch of road is improved, traffic authorities will find it difficult to persuade drivers of public transport to change their routes and make a detour to reach the station.

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