Kolkata: The Majerhat accident, which claimed the life of 12-year-old Anmol Jha, reignited public outrage against persistent vulnerability of schoolchildren on Kolkata’s southern industrial transit corridors between Taratala and Behala Chowrasta on one side and the Tarata-Port stretch on the other.Over the past decade from 2016 to 2026, the Behala-Taratala belt has witnessed fatal and severe accidents involving students, primarily caused by commercial vehicles plying Diamond Harbour Road, Budge Budge Trunk Road, Garangacha Road and the Majerhat stretch. Urban planners and residents have long flagged the dangerous intersection of heavy industrial traffic and daily school commutes leading to mixed traffic on the Behala-Taratala corridor. As the area serves as a major transit artery to port, students walking or cycling to and from schools and tuition classes routinely share the narrow, congested carriageways with port-bound heavy goods vehicles, cranes as well as buses.Decade-long Metro rail construction, potholed stretches, road craters, absence of bus bays and missing zebra crossings compounded the risks for cyclists and pedestrians.Following the Aug 2023 Behala Chowrasta accident, in which eight-year-old Souranil Sarkar was killed while he was crossing the road with his father, Kolkata Police and PWD launched a Rs 3-crore model crossing project. The overhaul introduced pedestrian channels, refuge islands, drop gates and AI-driven traffic signaling. Of these, Behala Chowrasta has maintained a planned crossover even as cops introduced signals at even the smaller crossovers on DH Road.But Friday’s accident on the adjoining Majerhat stretch underscored that safety gaps on feeder roads and arterial corridors.