Orange Line work: Wary of airport snarls, cops offer alternative route

Kolkata: Days after rejecting a traffic diversion plan — to facilitate construction of the final 135m of the Orange Line — around Kolkata airport, Bidhannagar City Police has proposed an alternative route to revive the project and ease congestion.Officers, led by Bidhannagar CP Murli Dhar, conducted a fresh site survey on the airport land next to the existing airport road to assess feasibility and traffic-carrying capacity, and to determine whether a temporary road could be carved out as a replacement option. A joint inspection involving RVNL and airport authorities is likely later this week, officials said.
TOI reported last Wednesday how the New Garia-Airport metro link hit a fresh hurdle after Bidhannagar cops did not grant sanction to the traffic diversion plan citing massive congestion on roads. While RVNL proposed shutting the airport exit road and diverting traffic via airport gate 2.5, cops objected, claiming it would lead to huge traffic chaos, with the tail reaching as far as Dakshineswar and Madhyamgram during peak hours."We are not against the construction and overall development of infrastructure projects in the city. But we could not allow traffic diversion through airport gate 2.5 as proposed by RVNL. Hence, we looked for alternative routes and came up with an option, which is subject to being vetted by all stakeholders," an officer said. According to the proposal, a temporary road could be made if the wall next to the airport exit road is broken down at one place and a portion of a dilapidated and abandoned Air India building is demolished. "The new road will be a single-lane, one-way road that will take traffic from the airport exit road to the VIP Road lining the boundary wall, running parallel to the existing thoroughfare," the officer said.In Jan 2025, India's longest "box-pushing" tunnelling work began below the airport flyover for the last section of the Orange Line. The last 900m of the 31km metro corridor is underground because of airport regulations. The box-pushing method was adopted for the last 135 m, where boxes the size of three train coaches, were pushed through soil to build a tunnel.But this work stopped a few months ago following instances of subsidence. After trying ways to strengthen the soil, RVNL engineers concluded cut-and-cover was the only viable method, which involves excavating a trench, building the tunnel within it, and then covering it with soil or a roof slab. To skirt the looming threat of subsidence, the road from the airport towards VIP Road will have to be dug up. A Metro Railway spokesperson said, "A metro project is a continuous process. There will be several revisions and proposals from all stakeholders to get the public project moving."Airport officials said they will comment on the development only after a detailed proposal is tabled before them.