Three Metro lines are supposed to converge at the Kolkata airport, but none is nearing completion.
An underground Metro Railway station connected to the three lines — New Garia-airport, Noapara-airport and airport-Barasat (which will now be constructed till New Barrackpore) — is being built on the airport premises, around 150m from the terminal building.
Metro reported on Thursday that work on the airport-Barasat corridor has stalled because of objections raised by the airport authorities over the height of the arm of a crane used in the construction because of safety issues for flight operations.
Work is unlikely to resume before the Airports Authority of India issues a no-objection certificate after reviewing the technical details.
On Thursday, this newspaper spoke to Metro officials about the status of the two other corridors.
Noapara-airport
A Metro official said the revised target to complete the line is December 2024. Two major issues need to be addressed for the completion of the line, he said.
One is the removal of encroachments between the Jessore Road and Dum Dum Cantonment stations.
The unauthorised structures are mostly in the forms of stalls and shanties under the elevated Circular Railway tracks. Those need to be removed before work starts to demolish the elevated corridor, necessary for underground construction to start. The Metro line will be underground between Jessore Road and the airport.
Metro Railway has been working with the state government to get the encroachments removed.
“At the start of 2023, there were around 130 unauthorised structures. With the help of the state government, we have been able to remove the majority of them. As of now, there are around 50 such structures. The state government has promised all help in removing the remaining squatters as well,” said the official.
The other challenge is the completion of a subway — an underground passage connecting the upcoming Airport Metro station and Jessore Road.
Two corridors are being built from the station — one leading to the airport terminal and the other to Jessore Road.
“The subway is being built in phases. Traffic regulations are needed for the construction work. We have applied for permission from the agencies concerned,” the official said.
Construction of the subway began in September 2020. The work is being done in phases. Metro and police sources cited heavy traffic load on Jessore Road to explain slow pace of the work.
“If everything goes well, the Noapara-airport line should reach the airport by the end of this year,” said Metro general manager P. Uday Kumar Reddy.
New Garia-airport
On paper, the target for taking the line to the airport is December 2025.
But going by the tardy pace, the target looks all set to be missed.
The first lap of the corridor, between New Garia and Ruby hospital, is not yet operational, despite receiving a nod from the commissioner of railway safety in February last year.
The first leg is likely to be operational by this March.
The second leg, till Sector V, is chasing a December 2024 deadline. This stretch has the viaduct in place, barring small gaps.
The real challenge is to build the extension from Sector V to the airport, via City Centre II.
There are considerable gaps in the viaduct in the last leg. Metro sources also spoke about land logjams in New Town and VIP Road.
But general manager Reddy said: “The land problems are by and large sorted. The major issue is construction. We still have considerable gaps in the viaduct. Those have to be plugged. Thereare some stations that require to be cast. For that, we need traffic regulations. Weneed permission from the police.”
Heavy traffic on VIP Road is a major challenge.
“The construction of pillars between Kaikhali and Haj House on VIP Road will need a long period of traffic curbs. There are similar construction hurdles that remain,” said a Metro official.
“We want to take the corridor till Ruby by March 2024, till Sector V by December 2024 and till the airport by December 2025. But to meet these targets, we need the support of the state agencies. We are counting on that,” said Reddy.
