The state government will undertake a Rs 40-crore project to ease traffic congestion around Howrah station, urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya said in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Introducing the Howrah Improvement Amendment bill in the House, Bhattacharya said: “I keep getting complaints of traffic chaos around Howrah station… and have been discussing the issue with several experts. A project has to be launched to tame unruly traffic around Howrah station. The initial estimated cost of the project has been revised from Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore. The CMDA will implement the project’’.

The state government will request the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to partially fund the project.

“We are planning to ask the JNNURM authorities next month to sanction 35 per cent of the project cost. If they accept our request, we will be able to launch the project early next year. We do not yet know when the project work will start,” said Bhattacharya.

Trinamul Congress legislator Tarak Bandopadhyay argued that the government should have taken up the project at least 10 years ago.

The minister also said in the House a Rs 90-crore drinking water project is being executed in Howrah and a Rs 96-crore water supply project will be launched shortly. “After the monsoon, we will think about road repairs in Howrah. We will earmark funds for construction of small houses for slum dwellers,” said the minister.