On 25 September 2019, more than 100 people living under and around Tallah Bridge, in what is known as Tallah basti, were ordered to evacuate the area with no written notice. The police, along with Tarun Saha, one of the borough chairmen of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), visited the area overnight and asked them to vacate their houses, threatening to throw out their belongings.

Tallah bridge is located on BT Road’s Nazrul Pally lane. The bridge is a key link between Shyambazar and areas further north, leading up to Barrackpore. The railways and the PWD are jointly responsible for the maintenance of the 57-year-old bridge. In September 2018, the Public Works Department (PWD) observed that the concrete in the bridge had peeled off in many places, leading to a corrosion of the steel reinforcements. It identified the bridge as vulnerable, along with a clutch of other bridges, and suggested repairs.

On 6 November 2019, the PWD issued a written notice, which stated that the people living under the bridge were ‘illegally’ occupying the area and that they should be removed or ‘appropriate’ action would be taken. The move was seen as a run-up to the repair work of Tallah Bridge. Meanwhile, between 25 September and 6 November, the police visited the basti regularly and continued to allegedly threaten the residents. On a few occasions, the police even threw out personal belongings. Some residents eventually moved out of the area in the face of the harassment and shifted to dilapidated transit camps at the railway yard and near Chitpur canal.

On 2 January 2020, following a meeting between state chief secretary Rajiva Sinha, railway engineers and the PWD, it was decided that the PWD would demolish Tallah Bridge as it has lost much of its load-bearing capacity. The demolition was scheduled to start on 5 January but was later postponed to February.

Ahead of the demolition, the houses of the daily wage labourers were demolished by the PWD on 11 November, five days after the written notice was issued. The labourers are now scattered in three surrounding areas. According to the residents, the KMC had failed to deliver on its promises.

Kamala Das, one of the inhabitants of the transit camp, told LCW that Saha had promised them that their houses would not be demolished and that they could return after the repair of the bridge was completed. He had also assured them that they would be relocated to flats in a building. "Once we learnt that we would instead be moved to transit camps, Saha promised us electricity throughout the day as well as tin sheds for roof. But even those were not fulfilled," she adds.

In the name of rehabilitation, the PWD provided the labourers temporary housing in the transit camps, made with long bamboo structures covered with black tarpaulin sheets. But these lack proper toilets, not to mention that plastic is combustible and there is no fire extinguisher in these shelters. Within a few hours of rain, the sewers around the tents get filled.

Thirty-five-year-old Fultoshi Hajra, one of the inhabitants, told LCW, “The children have to walk to the toilet, which is far from their tents, and it is unsafe to do so at night. As the tents are made of plastic, anyone can tear through them with blade or scissors.”

In November 2019, the evicted people formed a committee called Basteevasi Shramjivi Adhikar Raksha Committee – Tallah. Uttam Das, a member, told LCW, “We have been living under the bridge for two generations. My father is a cancer patient; what will I do now? In the summer, how will people survive without electricity? Almost everyone has a valid identity card, such as voter card, Aadhaar card and ration card. Everyone has gas and electricity connections. Even with all these proofs, we are homeless today.”

On 25 November 2019, following a petition at the Calcutta High Court by two residents of the basti, Sabyasachi Bhattacharjee, a judge at the court, ordered the state government to consider the case on humanitarian grounds and directed it to explain through an affidavit the action it had taken on rehabilitation within 15 days.

The KMC's promise of rehabilitation remains unfulfilled to date. The evacuees have demanded a written assurance from Saha stating that they would be allowed to return to their old area after the completion of the bridge work.

The new 750-metre-long Tallah rail overbridge was inaugurated by the Chief Minister in September 2022. The state government reportedly spent Rs 540 crore for the reconstruction of the bridge and paid Rs 90 crore to the Railways for the demolition of a vital stretch of it that was over the rail tracks. A group of displaced people visited the inaugural function venue and protested, demanding houses for them. Police, however, dispersed them.