TimesView This is a good idea. Besides serving the obvious purpose of making the stretch more beautiful, it will also help keep encroachments away. KOLKATA: The scarred Diamond Harbour Road has finally received a healing touch after Rail Vikash Nigam Limited and PWD created a verdant median below the Joka-Esplanade viaduct at Behala As part of the pilot project, a 500m stretch between Pathakpara and Behala Bazar was chosen for beautification and the cost of developing the median was shared on a 50-50 basis by PWD and RVNL. To complete the entire project, a fund of Rs 60 lakh has been allocated.With the success of the pilot project, the agencies have started full-scale beautification work of the median, said an official.A worker trims the grass on the newly designed medianApart from landscaping, PWD has also installed giant sculptures on the median, making the 500m stretcth look like an art gallery. The installations include a giant terracotta owl and a conch shell. “The stretch no longer look like it’s part of Diamond Harbour Road. If the entire median is redesigned, it will be excellent. I will suggest the authorities should plant trees along the edge on both sides,” said Arunima Moitra, an employee at a foreign bank and a resident of Behala Tram Depot area. With the Metro viaduct nearing completion, RVNL, the executing agency of the Metro project, returned land below the viaduct to PWD, its custodian.“The median below the viaduct had become a garbage dump. People would even throw domestic trash and market waste there,” said Gautam Dasgupta, a shopowner and member of South Suburban Traders’ Association.The Diamond Harbour Road has been witnessing a host of construction activities since the past one decade and as a result, the entire area has turned into a mess.The work included construction of Taratala flyover, Joka-Esplanade Metro and concretization of the road. The continuous construction activities have left the road bereft of any greenery and also, accident-prone.

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