[vigsom]

Background

This report dates back to Nov-2018 when I made my first ever trip to Kolkata for fresh engineers' recruitment (at Jadavpur University). After the job was done, I had a few hours the following day before making it back to my return flight.

I'm no big fan of history, but sure love great landmarks, and thus decided to explore two mighty bridges in the city on foot.

Day 1

It was a rather uneventful, but interesting day at the Jadavpur University campus. Buildings were old, but held their charm; reminded me of my days at college in the late 80s. I casually looked over some window sills and found cigarette butts galore.

Hospitality was top notch, and some great yet simple packed breakfast arranged by the University officials gave me the required Josh to meet and greet potential candidates. I found most candidates full of zeal, and reasonably sharp, and spotted a couple of outliers too !!

Interviews all day left me with some memorable experiences, and the icing on the cake was some good visuals that I captured that evening using a very humble ZTE Axon7. What I loved about the campus was its old charm, and those narrow approach lanes. I also noticed that it would get dark rather soon. The pictures shown below were shot at approx 1705hrs.

[vigsom]

Day 2

I'd booked my return flight later in the day, to accommodate spill-over interviews, but was done by end of Day 1 itself since I started early, and had a very brief lunch break. That gave me an opportunity to explore Kolkata, but wait - I hadn't planned to visit anyplace, and didn't have too much time on hand to check and explore. That's when I knew that the best I could do was to explore the Vidyasagar Setu and the Howrah Bridge, and decided to set out by taxi to a point, and then go across on foot. Here's where I think I had underestimated the walk to the bridges.

Vidyasagar Setu

I took an ola to the foot of the Vidyasagar Setu at Khidderpore Road, on the Kolkata side and asked the driver to drop me off. I'd planned to take the ramp up (the No Entry marked in the attached picture). I walked up the ramp, and instead of seeing the Setu, I saw an expressway which never seemed to end.

The starting point of the padyatra


It was approx 0930hrs by the time I'd walked up that ramp, but the setu seemed really far away. I walked, walked, and walked on the kerb (the regular walkway was shut), and it took me another approx 25 minutes to get to the welcome sign at the entry to the Vidyasagar Setu. I was beginning to realize that I had committed a huge error in calculation w.r.t time. Anyway, having come this far, I decided to keep moving in the direction of Howrah, keeping a tab on my watch. I could get some brilliant views of the Hooghly.

When I was approx 3/4ths down the setu towards Howrah, I decided to turn around, because I didn't want to move past my time target. It was slowly warming up, and the bottle of water that I was carrying was getting empty. It was November, but the sun was beating down big time.

I took the long walk back, on the kerb again. It is only when one explores an expressway on foot does one see how fast vehicles move. I managed to cross over when there was zero traffic and eventually made my way down the same ramp towards Race Course. While I was there, a tram appeared out of nowhere. I was seeing a tram first time, and would have loved to take a ride, but time didn't permit. I had one more landmark to explore, and therefore booked an ola and waited !!

It took me approx 1hr 10mins from the foot of the ramp on Khidderpore Road to the Setu and back; not something that most would want to try. I remember I was the only one walking on that stretch.

Just up the ramp


Setu nowhere in sight


Setu near yet so far - note the shut walkway


Setu still some distance away - I'm walking on the kerb


The Setu finally welcomes you !!


The Hooghly


Walking towards Howrah



Turning around


Mahindra Bolero Maxxxx - living up to its name


Good ol' Ambys


Commissariat Road below the mighty bridge


Race Course


Race Course; and a tram suddenly appeared from nowhere


Colourful bus, while I was waiting for my cab

[vigsom]

Day 2 (Contd.)

I got my Ola and made it quite quick to the next destination viz.Howrah Bridge aka Rabindra Setu. I was expecting another marathon here, but surprisingly found the bridge dead easy to cross. No sweat at all, and the quick walk up and down made for some great visuals. Here, I crossed the full length of the bridge, and found a vendor selling great looking guavas. I helped myself to two guavas for sot toka ( seven bucks) each; Khoob bhalo.. This gave me the much needed energy after that long walk down Vidyasagar Setu.

The Howrah Bridge is a structural marvel. Period !! Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of the structure as there was a ban on photography of the structure. Not sure if it still applies.

View of the Hooghly - with the Vidyasagar Setu in the background


View of Howrah Railway Station


Colourful bus


Burra Bazar market


Key takeaways

1. Attempt an unknown destination on foot only when you have a plan, time and energy. I could have easily been left stuck on that expressway leading to the Vidyasagar Setu, devoid of energy to complete the return leg. If you must attempt, carry at least 2 bottles of water.

2. In exactly an opposite tone to S.No.1, I'd strongly recommend exploring doable places on foot to get the flavour in.

I had a wonderful foot-a-logue despite the rather long approach to the first Setu, and also realized my endurance levels in the process !!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[VJ05]

As far as I know, walking in Vidyasagar Setu is not allowed. Some months back, one of our house staff tried to cross the Setu by walking and was fined by police. It may have been allowed in 2018, not sure.

[ABHI_1512]

Good one vigsom, it’s commendable that you were able to cross Vidyasagar Setu on foot without being apprehended by the Calcutta Police since walking on the bridge is an offence. There used to be time when there were police pickets at the start of the bridge and which have now being withdrawn.

After a recent case of accidental death, those pickets are back. Nevertheless, throughly enjoyed your log. Being from the same city, it’s surreal when I see my city from someone else’s eyes.

Regards.

Originally Posted by VJ05

As far as I know, walking in Vidyasagar Setu is not allowed. Some months back, one of our house staff tried to cross the Setu by walking and was fined by police. It may have been allowed in 2018, not sure.

You are indeed right, walking on Vidyasagar Setu is banned and is an offence. It was never allowed and remains the same till date.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by VJ05

walking in Vidyasagar Setu is not allowed. Some months back, one of our house staff tried to cross the Setu by walking and was fined by police.

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

commendable that you were able to cross Vidyasagar Setu on foot ;walking on the bridge is an offence.

Thank God for small mercies, and thank you both @VJ05 and @Abhi_1512 for this info. I did see signboards prohibiting photography at approx 15 ft elevation on the Howrah Bridge, so assumed that clicking pics of the structure was prohibited. However, I saw no sign on the Vidyasagar Setu prohibiting walking. When I expressed my desire of crossing the bridge on foot to the Ola driver, even he didn't call his ban out. He just told me to take the ramp up and walk till the bridge.

Now I understand why there was no one other than me there. And let me reiterate - the Kona Expressway leading to the Vidyasagar Setu is not a walker's delight at all.

One bridge - walking prohibited, another bridge - photography prohibited; good that I didn't try a third bridge. Maybe my very existence would have been prohibited.

[NarediAni7518]

What a lovely write up, absolutely loved reading it.

[lejhoom]

That sounded like a crazy attempt for the reason you mentioned at the end. Any place in that city devoid of crowd could be a potential threat to your existence. But then in the nineties even taxis wouldn't move out from Howrah railway station towards the city if the train arrived after midnight. Howrah bridge used to be a notorious robbery point during such early hours.

[itwasntme]

"Any place in that city devoid of crowd could be a potential threat to your existence."

That's a very strong statement. Do you have personal experiences of this happening?