Kolkata: Light post comes in Orange line's way near airport
Times of India | 29 October 2024
Kolkata airport KOLKATA: A light post on VIP Road is now obstructing the last 900 metres between the Orange Line and the airport. At a stakeholder meeting convened last week to discuss the removal of the lamp post immediately, RVNL was informed that this process would take some time.
While the public works department (PWD) is the custodian of VIP Road, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) is the implementing agency for the 29 km New Garia-Airport corridor, also known as the Orange line. RVNL has already missed the January 2024 deadline for completing the last leg of the corridor due to various major and minor hurdles, such as a hoarding put up by PWD across the width of VIP Road.
After several meetings, in April this year, PWD finally replaced the hoarding with a smaller one, allowing piling work for the ramp that will link the elevated stretch with the underground section below the airport to begin.
However, another roadblock has now emerged in the way of the ramp construction. "Unless the lamp post is removed, the corridor cannot extend beyond pier 846, the last pillar for the elevated section of the Orange Line.
From here, the line ducks around 900 metres up to the airport since the Airports Authority of India (AAI) mandates only underground Metro lines near the airport," a Railways engineer said. Afcons has started piling work for the underground section of the ramp near the site next to the airport flyover. "Now they want to begin piling work for the overground section of the ramp," the engineer added. The lamp post stands along the median a few metres from the Kaikhali crossing.
In December 2020, Afcons Infrastructure won the bid to build the last 3.5 km leg of the Orange Line, including the viaduct and two stations – at Chinar Park and VIP Road – and the 900-metre underground stretch to the airport. Afcons was supposed to complete the work by January 2024. However, in December 2023, Afcons wrote to RVNL stating that it would not be able to meet the deadline. Furthermore, engineers are not sure if the job will be completed by February next year.