Two stumbling blocks for the New Garia-Airport Metro project are scheduled to be discussed this week at a meeting of a group that functions under the Prime Minister’s Office.
The construction of the 366-metre viaduct at the Chingrighata crossing on EM Bypass has been stalled for over two months, as the state government is yet to permit a traffic block to lift concrete segments for two spans.
Permission for another traffic block to construct an overhead walkway for pedestrians headed to Beleghata Metro station from the EM Bypass is also pending.
“These two are among the last niggles for the Orange Line. The Project Monitoring Group under the PMO is scheduled to meet here next week. These two issues are on the agenda of the meeting, which will also include railway officials,” said a senior Metro official. Senior representatives of the state government are also expected to attend the meeting.
A state government official said they were still reviewing the requests from Metro authorities for the clearances.
“The requests for traffic blocks are being reviewed,” said the official.
The Project Monitoring Group (PMG) is an institutional mechanism for expeditious resolution of issues and regulatory bottlenecks in projects with an investment of ₹500 crore and above in India.
The 32km Orange Line between New Garia and the airport was originally supposed to be completed by 2016-17, but was delayed because of land logjams.
Now, most of the land problems have been resolved. The line is now functional on a 5.4km stretch between New Garia and Ruby. Trial runs are underway in the next 4.4km stretch from Ruby to Beleghata. Construction is on from Beleghata to the airport, a distance of just over 19km. The new target to complete the project is March 2026, officials said.
According to officials of RVNL, the implementing agency, the construction of the 4.46km Beleghata-Sector V section is almost complete except for the 366m gap on the Bypass and the pedestrian crossover point at Beleghata station.
“EM Bypass is one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. For a pedestrian on the airport-bound flank, it is almost impossible to reach Beleghata station on foot through the middle of the road because of the traffic. So, an elevated walkway is the only feasible option,” said an official of the RVNL.
The length of the proposed walkway is likely to be over 50m.
“We need a night traffic block to lift girders for the walkway. We had sought a block on the airport-bound flank for a couple of days and a similar block for the Garia-bound flank,” said the official.
A pillar will also be constructed in the middle of the road to support the walkway. Sources in the agency said a traffic block will not be needed to build the pillar. A slice of the carriageway on each flank will be barricaded, they said.
A police team inspected the site on Thursday. A meeting was convened on April 28 in this regard.
This newspaper reported on how the 366m gap in the viaduct at Chingrighata has emerged as the latest thorn in the project. The gap lies between Beleghata and Gour Kishore (Chingrighata) stations. The viaduct would cross the Bypass. Awaiting a nod from the police, work has remained stalled since February 2, and now, men and machines are being shifted from the site.
“There were several other problems for the project, but they have been resolved. The Chinar Park, VIP Road and Technopolis stations have to be built. But work is already underway. There are no more roadblocks,” said a Metro official.