A flyover connecting EM Bypass and New Town, for which Rs 150 crore was allocated in the state budget for 2024-2025, will take off from the Metropolitan crossing on EM Bypass and end near Panache Apartment in New Town’s Mahishbathan.
There will be two ramps — one each near Nicco Park and Nalban — that vehicles headed towards EM Bypass from Salt Lake can use, said an official of the state urban development department.
A third ramp will go down near College More in Sector V and can be used by vehicles heading to Sector V and other parts of Salt Lake or a part of New Town that neighbours Salt Lake.
State urban development minister Firhad Hakim said on Tuesday that the tender inviting bids for the construction of the flyover will most likely be floated after the Lok Sabha elections.
A dry portion of the East Kolkata Wetlands (on left), over which a part of the flyover will be constructed.
A 1.5km stretch of the 7.1km long flyover will run above the East Kolkata Wetlands. Each of the flanks of the four-lane flyover will be 7.5 metre wide.
“The CMDA will be executing the project. We are waiting for the full approval from the finance department before we float the tender inviting bids for construction,” Hakim said on Tuesday.
An official said the estimated cost of the flyover is Rs 727 crore. According to the official, the finance department is likely to release the funds over three years.
The deadline for construction is yet to be finalised, but it could range between 18 months and 36 months, said the official.
The planning of the flyover has been going on for many years.
The state public works department was supposed to execute the project when minister of state (independent charge) for finance, Chandrima Bhattacharya, announced the Rs 150 crore allocation for the flyover in the state budget earlier this month. But since then, the project has been transferred to the CMDA.
A senior PWD official also confirmed that the project would be handled by the CMDA.
Sources in the state government said the CMDA had been working on the proposed flyover for many years including preparing a detailed project report and obtaining necessary permissions to build a portion of the flyover above the wetlands.
“No pier will be built on the water on the stretch above the wetlands. The piers will
rise from the walkways between two water bodies,” said an official.
While taking a right turn from EM Bypass at the Chingrighata crossing to enter Salt Lake, the flyover will run 5.5 metre above the existing Chingrighata flyover.
An advisory committee comprising bridge engineers from private companies and teaching institutions appointed to examine the health of many flyovers said that the Chingrighata flyover should be pulled down owing to its poor health, a recommendation that the state government has yet to accept.
The initial plan was that the EM Bypass-New Town flyover should be built and commissioned before the Chingrighata flyover is pulled down.