Metro Cordons Off Part Of Cave-In Site Road, Halts Orange Line Work
Times of India | 15 August 2026
Kolkata: Metro authorities on Friday cordoned off a part of the road leading to Kolkata airport entrance that had caved in on Thursday. Metro authorities have temporarily suspended the tunnelling for the Orange Line until the road is repaired.
An official from the Metro, however, said the cave-in would not hamper the overall progress of the project despite the temporary suspension of work.
The cave-in occurred around 7.15 pm near the exit of the right-turn flyover leading to the the airport. The subsidence, measuring around 18 ft by 12 ft and nearly 3 ft deep, forced motorists to apply the brakes of their vehicles all of a sudden. This trigerred a traffic snarl on the flyover. With a steady stream of vehicles heading toward the airport, VIP Road witnessed congestion.
A large team of Bidhannagar City Police officers was deployed at the cave-in site on Friday to regulate trafficf. Police personnel also monitored traffic flow on the one-way flyover and VIP Road to prevent congestion.
It was being assessed whether the subsidence was linked to the Orange Line tunnelling work or a result of the heavy rain the area had received over the past few days. Preliminary reports indicated that rainfall could have played a significant role.
The Orange Line tunnelling work had commenced beneath the airport approach zone last week.
“In the underground work, such incidents can occur . Safety precautions have been taken up. The situation is completely under control. This is nothing serious, and the progress of the work will not be hampered,” the Metro official said.
Sources said the airport area received nearly 100 mm of rain on Tuesday. The torrential downpour may have weakened the road surface, leading to the subsidence, they said.
Metro officials inspected the affected stretch on Friday and took additional safety measures. “All our officials have gone to the spot and inspected it. They have examined everything. Whatever additional safety precautions were required have been taken up” the official added.
Meanwhile, traffic arrangements put in place for the Metro construction remained in force. A section of the airport exit road had earlier been earmarked for airport-bound vehicles. A newly-constructed temporary road that connects the terminal building with Kaikhali was opened for vehicles moving toward VIP Road.