Bankim Setu, from which a speeding minibus fell off on Saturday, has long been a danger zone. Most of those who use the bridge daily said they were scared to cross the stretch because of buses that race each other with scant regard for traffic rules.

According to traffic police, at least 20,000 use the bridge every day to reach the district administrative offices such as the treasury, district magistrate’s office, Howrah Municipal Corporation, court and the district hospital.

Moreover, there are thousands of students who take the bridge on their way to educational institutions like St Thomas School, Howrah Zilla School and Bijoy Krishna Girls’ College.

“Rush hour is particularly dangerous. The bus and minibus drivers race each other and we feel lucky to reach our workplaces unharmed,” said Pramod Chatterjee, a lawyer at Howrah court, who comes to Howrah station from Bally by train and then takes a bus across the bridge to the court.

Soma Haldar, a teacher at Binodini Girls’ High School, near Howrah Maidan, who commutes daily from Girish Park, says she hates to be on the bridge. “I always get out of home early so that I don’t have to travel by bus on the bridge. I prefer to get off at Howrah station and cross the bridge on foot. I feel safer that way. After Saturday’s mishap, I will feel scared to even walk across the bridge from Monday,” said Haldar.

Gopal Mukherjee, the Howrah mayor, visited the mishap site on Sunday afternoon. He said the drivers of buses and minibuses were holding the traffic to ransom.

“The drivers do not obey any traffic rule and are only interested in picking up passengers before other vehicles. They do not hesitate to put the lives of passengers at risk,” said the mayor.

Mukherjee said he would ask the police to keep a watch on buses racing with each other and take drastic action against the drivers.

Howrah police superintendent Niraj Kumar Singh said that more traffic sergeants would be deployed on and around the Bankim Setu approaches to rein in reckless drivers.

“We are determined to stop reckless driving in Howrah. We will bring these drivers to book,” he stated.

The president of the district unit of the Trinamul Congress, Arup Roy, said the party would launch an agitation to protest against reckless driving by buses on the congested stretch between Howrah Maidan and Howrah bridge.