The state budget has set aside ₹900 crore for an elevated road between Metropolitan on EM Bypass and New Town, a project conceived over a decade ago but later shelved by the erstwhile Trinamool government.
The flyover is expected to allow vehicles to bypass congestion along one of the city’s most notorious traffic corridors between the arterial Bypass and the IT hub in Sector V.
Finance minister Swapan Dasgupta announced the fund allocation for the project in the BJP government’s first budget on Monday.
“Connectivity of New Town area with central Calcutta is poor. I propose construction of a 7.41km Chingrighata-New Town elevated corridor with a funding outlay of around ₹900 crore,” Dasgupta said.
“The corridor linking EM Bypass to Salt Lake Sector V will relieve congestion and improve connectivity to New Town. This corridor will have ramps, elevated parking, noise barriers, bridge health monitoring system and CCTV surveillances,” he said.
Commuters take over 30 minutes to cover the 2.5km stretch between Nicco Park and Chingrighata during peak evening hours.
The elevated corridor will have multiple up and down ramps, including one near College More in Sector V.
It will be a four-lane elevated corridor, government sources said. The main flyover, excluding ramps, will be 5.99km. It will start at the Metropolitan crossing, take a right turn from Chingrighata, pass over the Salt Lake Bypass and parts of Sector V above Ring Road, cross a stretch of wetlands and terminate at Mahishbathan.
The project includes an up-ramp near Nicco Park for vehicles coming from Sector V and another up-ramp on Salt Lake Ring Road. A down-ramp has been planned at College More for vehicles headed towards Sector V.
Including ramps, the total length of the flyover will be 7.41km.
Government sources said that when a tender for construction was floated in 2024, the contractor was given 18 months to complete the project.
In Bengal, projects of this scale have rarely been completed within initial deadlines. Time will tell whether a double-engine arrangement — the same party in power in Calcutta and Delhi — makes a difference.
Construction giant Larsen & Toubro had emerged as the sole bidder in 2024, but the then government shelved the plan citing lack of funds.
Fresh tenders will now be floated after the state sanctioned funds for the flyover.
Environment activists had earlier opposed the proposed elevated corridor over concerns of damage to the ecologically fragile East Kolkata Wetlands.
About 1.2km of the flyover will pass above the wetlands.
However, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), which had conceived and designed the project, secured clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and forests after promising safeguards for the wetlands.
“We already have the necessary clearances from the ministry,” a KMDA official said on Monday.
Officials said the design includes pipelines to prevent water from the flyover deck entering the wetlands.
Rainwater will be channelled through pipelines into gully pits and manholes on roads.