The more I see the Howrah Bridge the more I feel awestruck by its magnificent façade, its imposing structure. If the bridge is an edifice that takes the breadth away notwithstanding the heavy rush of people of vehicles that ply on it, no less attractive is the river Hooghly flowing underneath.
2 days back the mighty I-35W bridge across the Mississippi at Minneapolis, US crashed during rush hour traffic (see a video in my next post). The I-35W is a very busy thoroughfare. Some estimates say it caters to a mammoth 2 lakh cars a day.
While that may be way beyond one would ever imagine what our own Howrah Bridge would cater to, the very word collapse does send shivers down the spine.
Recalling incidents like a launch grazing the belly of the bridge last year during high tide, one would like to feel assured that indeed the authorities keep constant vigil on the bridge.
After the Minnesota incident the question of the bridge’s safety has become important perhaps like never before.
The 2 pictures below taken from the bridge early in the morning give a glimpse of views around. In the second one, you can see Kolkata’s skyline close to the river and a shadow-like impression of the Vidyasage Setu far ahead.
Parthada
You look like having a full blast with writing for KolkataMusing. Some time back I missed Kolkata a bit in my favourite blog, but with multiple posts a day these days, many of which are about Kolkata, I struggle to read up all everyday. But indeed it is a happy problem.
Please keep writing more and more on various aspects of Kolkata. City blogs don’t feature as a category as yet in online blog directories, and here my Kolkata blog Kolkata Curry (www.kolkatacurry.blogspot.com) joins KM in its small way in popularizing the category.
Cheers
Anirban