KOLKATA: You would have heard of ‘a bridge too far’ but this is a bizarre case of ‘a flyover too close’.

Residents of Vivekananda Road in north Kolkata have moved Calcutta high
court against the construction of the Vivekananda Road flyover which is
actually brushing against their houses. At places, residents can
actually reach out of their windows and touch the concrete structure. The court has admitted the petition.

Around three years ago, KMDA
along with IVRCL Ltd started laying pillars on the Girish Park side of
Vivekananda Road from near Haryana Bhavan. The flyover will extend to
the Posta and Manicktala crossings on either end.

“After the pillars were laid, my clients Uma Shankar Behani
and others came to know from the project engineers that the flyover
will pass extremely close to their homes and offices, possibly a gap of
less than one and a half feet. No other flyover in the city has been
built so close to buildings. My clients are worried that the flyover
will not only endanger their buildings, but cut off air and light. On
July 24, I wrote to the KMDA and the state government on my clients’
behalf, urging them to prepare a Land Use and Development Control Plan
and publish a public notice inviting objections from people,” said
advocate Chandra Sekhar Jha, who moved the petition in court.

The residents also met the local MLA. Work on the flyover was suspended
from mid-2011 to March 2012 and people felt that KMDA had taken steps
to rectify the situation. However, construction resumed thereafter
according to original plans.

In their letter to the MLA, the
residents had pointed to how the width of certain flyovers in Kolkata
and elsewhere had been reduced in the past along certain stretches to
accommodate objections.

“We don’t intend to stand in the way of
development but this is too much. We had asked them to call us when they
were finalizing the plans. We even went to their offices and asked to
see the plans but they refused to comply. Safety and security of our
homes will be compromised. All that we are asking for is to leave some
space. In some places, the gap is less than a foot. After all, our
houses aren’t illegal. We are law-abiding citizens. It is another matter
altogether that the road is narrow. There were no plans to build a
flyover here when the houses were constructed several decades ago. We
only want them to leave a space of 4 to 5 feet. Hopefully, they will
reveal their plans in court,” Behani said.

In his petition, Jha
has stated that his clients were not aware of the design till actual
construction started. Under law, KMDA is supposed to publish the plan
and allow the petitioners to file objections.

“Construction of
the flyover will lead to infringement/diminution of light and air,
thereby affecting the habitability and ventilation of the concerned
buildings. Hence, the buildings would become unfit for comfortable human
occupation. The privacy of the inhabitants and occupiers of the
buildings would be highly prejudiced and their right to life will be put
into jeopardy. Their personal, fundamental and Constitutional rights
would be violated. Since the respondent authorities are in a position of
public trust, they are not allowed to curtail or violate the personal,
fundamental and Constitutional rights of citizens,” Jha has stated in
his petition.

The petitioners have prayed for restraining orders
against KMDA to prevent it from carrying out further construction till
the case is disposed.

The KMDA doesn’t seem to be in any mood to alter their plans. According to KMDA chief executive officer Vivek Bharadwaj,
the flyover “is not entering anybody’s house”. “If we make the flyover
width narrower at that particular spot, then accidents can occur,” he
said.