Scores of fliers, especially those booked on late evening flights, are reporting late for their flights at the Kolkata airport because of traffic snarls at various points on VIP Road.
VIP Road, a six-lane thoroughfare, is one of the main arteries that connects the airport with the rest of the city. Several bottlenecks on the road are leading to snarls almost daily during rush hours, especially in the evening.
The Telegraph drove to the airport from City Centre Salt Lake, a distance of 11m, on Tuesday evening. It took around 50 minutes, from 7pm, to reach the airport.
The distance is usually covered in half an hour.
Traffic on the airport-bound flank of VIP Road slowed down right after crossing the EM Bypass-VIP Road flyover. Despite the presence of traffic personnel along the road, cars and bikes crawled towards the Lake Town intersection.
Even after the traffic light turned green, the situation did not improve till the Baguiati flyover, where the vehicles could pick some speed.
However, there was congestion right at the base of the flyover in Raghunathpur and it continued till in front of the Haj House as the carriageway has narrowed quite a bit because of the ongoing construction of the elevated corridor of the Garia-airport Metro.
Hawkers selling fish, vegetables and poultry on either side of the road were also contributing to the snarls. So were vehicles parked on the road along the edges at various places.
Among the worst-hit were a 100m stretch in front of the Baguiati bus stop, a 50m stretch in Kestopur and a 150m stretch in Kaikhali.
A south Kolkata resident who had gone to the airport on Monday evening said the drive from Jadavpur till the airport lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours.
“We left home around 7.10pm and could only reach the airport at 8.40pm. We were caught in snarls at multiple points on VIP Road,” he said.
A pilot of an airline who stays in south Kolkata said that for late evening flights, he leaves home at least one-and-a-half hours before he is supposed to reach the airport.
Vehicles crawl on the airport-bound flank on another stretch of the artery
The New Garia-airport Metro construction site on VIP Road, where the carriageway has narrowed
“It is taking nearly 90 minutes for me to reach the airport these days, especially in the evening. Earlier, I could cover the same distance in an hour. Snarls are almost a daily occurrence on VIP Road,” the pilot said.
An official at the airport said they had been getting regular complaints from airlines that passengers booked on late evening flights were reporting late because of congestion at multiple points on VIP Road.
A senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s traffic wing said their personnel posted on VIP Road are creating “dispersal diversions” depending on the need of the hour.
In the evening and late evening, the volume of traffic surges along the airport-bound flank of VIP Road, the officer said.
“The number of vehicles increases manifold and it is true that there are bottlenecks because of construction work. We are letting airport-bound vehicles pass through a lane on the EM Bypass-bound flank of VIP Road depending on the volume of traffic,” he said.