The road being laid near IIT Kharagpur. Picture by Samir Mondal

Kharagpur, July 3: A 10.5km four-lane road that is being constructed following requests from IIT Kharagpur authorities to help reduce travel time to the institute from Calcutta is expected to finish by this year.

The bypass will connect the Kharagpur IIT with National Highway 6 on the eastern part of the town and save 45 minutes to an hour if one travels from Calcutta, IIT Kharagpur director Damodar Acharya said.

Construction for the Rs 25-crore road was started by the PWD in November last year and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, officials said.

“The time taken to reach Calcutta airport by road from the institute (a distance of about 150 km) now is about three-and-half hours. After the new road is complete, it will take between two and two-and half hours,” Acharya said.

According to Acharya, the authorities had requested for the new road as guests from abroad and elsewhere in the country who visited the institute would often get stuck in traffic.

“Our guests include scientists, professors and senior officials of the central government. They mainly reach Calcutta airport by flights and arrive at the IIT by road or by train. After the road is complete, it would be easier for them to come to the institute. From the airport they can take the road that leads to Nibedita Setu and connecting roads to Durgapur Expressway and NH6. They can avoid travelling through Kharagpur town altogether,” Acharya said.

The IIT director said he had written to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in 2009 and suggested that a bypass be constructed connecting the IIT with NH60. From NH60, one has to turn left to take NH6.

The then chairman of Kharagpur municipality, Rabi Shankar Pandey, had also written to the NHAI expressing the need for a new road.

A PWD official of Kharagpur division said the Centre sanctioned Rs 25-crore for the bypass but work was stalled for sometime because of encroachment. “The NHAI gave the PWD the funds but the work could not be started immediately because encroachment in the area by hawkers. The hawkers were evicted and rehabilitated and work started in November last year,” the PWD official said.

The current municipality chairman Jwahar Lal Pal said: “We are monitoring the work and expect it will be completed by the end of the year. The residents of Kharagpur will also benefited by the new road.”