There was a movie released in 1958 titled Howrah Bridge which became a commercial success as soon as it was released. Till date a cult with immortal classics like “Aaiye Meherbaan” sung by Asha Bhosale featuring Madhubala and “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” sung by Geeta Dutt and featuring Helen. Many of the scenes of the movie were shot on Howrah Bridge including the climax. It was the first big hit under the banner of Shakti Films for Shakti Samanta setup in 1957. As a director he got the due recognition while for us, we got the name immortalized in our minds, Howrah Bridge. Now even though the bridge was renamed Rabindra Setu on 14th June 1965, everyone still calls it by the original name.
Watch the video featuring my first ever walk about crossing from the Howrah end to the main city.
Four bridges now on the Hooghly River
Once the Howrah Railway Terminal came up, there was immediately a requirement of bridge spanning across the Hooghly. Idea for the bridge began as early as 1862, but the plans kept getting made and shelved. Eventually it was decided to build a pontoon bridge. Parts of the bridge were fabricated in England and shipped to be assembled onsite and completed in 1874. It was immediately evident that this setup could not handle the amount of vehicular traffic using the bridge, that time mostly bullock carts. As an upgrade it was decided to build a suspension bridge. Construction started in 1936. The entire structure is made of rivets with 23,000 tons of steel supplied by Tata Steel. Howrah Bridge was finally ready in 1943.
Since then three more bridges have been built. Vidyasagar Setu popularly known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, Vivekananda Setu and Nivedita Setu.
Traffic
Even after more than 75 years, this bridge drives most of the traffic between Howrah Train Terminal and the bus depot to the main city of Kolkata. Estimated 1,00,000 vehicles cross it on a daily basis. It is the sixth longest cantilever bridge in the world. You might not believe it but about a lakh plus pedestrians cross the bridge everyday on foot.
Risk of damage
Primary risk of damage comes from overloaded goods vehicles which had grown into a menace till goods vehicles were permanently diverted to the new bridge. Vehicle accidents and collisions are another risk. Even bird droppings and paan spitting by people risk rusting the structure. Then there is always the risk of some boat passing under the bridge and hitting the under structure. Such an incident happened in 2005 which caused massive damage.