7km EMB-New Town flyover to have 3 ramps on Salt Lake Bypass
Times of India | 25 July 2024
Kolkata: The proposed 7km, four-lane flyover from EM Bypass to New Town will have three ramps connecting with Sector V for vehicles to reach the IT hub from EM Bypass in less than 10 minutes.
The flyover that KMDA is planning to construct through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode will have a width of 16.5m, with two lanes on each flank.The flyover will take off from Metropolitan Housing Estate on EM Bypass, cross Chingrighata, Salt Lake Bypass and Sector V to reach Mahisbathan, bordering New Town. A small portion of the flyover will cross a small portion of the wetlands before merging with Street No. 2222 of New Town.
There will be a 411m ramp from beside Nalban and another 371m ramp near College More. There will be another 313m ramp that will come up on Sector V Ring Road. Out of the 7km of the elevated corridor, the main flyover stretch will be of 5.9 km and the cumulative length of the three ramps combined will be of around 1.1 km.
A week after receiving an approval of Rs 727 crore from the state govt to set up the flyover, KMDA on Wednesday floated the tender to select an agency to construct the flyover. Firms can start applying online from Aug 10 and the last date for submission is Sep 2. Officials said that the construction work of the flyover is likely to start by the year-end.
Experts from the real estate industry said that the flyover, once constructed, will not only assist commuters travelling to New Town and Sector V but will also fuel development of residential and commercial properties in New Town and beyond.
Conceptualised back in 2013, the flyover was initially planned to start from Metropolitan crossing and move over the East Kolkata Wetlands before terminating at New Town. Environmentalists raised objection to the proposed alignment, saying that it would badly damage the wetlands. The state govt thereafter changed the alignment and it was decided that the flyover would move parallel to the metro alignment.