The urban development department has decided to give the Parama flyover a fresh coat of paint.
Kolkata Municipal Development Authority (KMDA) that maintains the flyover has floated a tender. The work has to be completed by mid-April. The project will cost around Rs 1.27 crore.
The 3.75km-long stretch between Park Circus and Silver Spring, which comprises the main trunk of the flyover, stands on 115 pillars all of which also get a coat of blue and white paint.
“This will be a part of periodic maintenance of the flyover, whose vehicular load has gone up several times over the last few years,” said a senior KMDA engineer. The paint will help prevent rusting of metal parts embedded in the concrete structures.
The pillars and the guard walls of the flyover will be first done up with a coat of cement wash. That will help fill up any hairline fissures on the concrete. A coat of paint will then be applied. The flyover was last painted in 2018.
The decision follows a nudge from chief minister Mamata Banerjee to spruce up the flyover ahead of the Bengal Global Business Summit that will be held at the Milan Mela ground on April 20 and 21.
Structural experts said any painting job usually does a world of good to a flyover because ahead of the coat, the concrete structures are cleared of all outgrowths that attract and retain water leading to inevitable seepage inside.
This apart, the median divider on the road underneath the flyover will be done up with ornamental trees and lights.
“Since 2016, when the trunks of the flyover were joined to the AJC Bose flyover, Parama has been sustaining heavy vehicular load, which is transferred to the ground along the pillars,” said a member of the committee of experts constitute by the state government to oversee the health of flyovers and bridges in and around Calcutta. "The painting activity will help us assess the condition of the pillars and find out whether the concrete cover is suffering any wear and tear."
Apart from the paint, the urban development department has also decided to do up the median divider on the Park Circus connector underneath with ornamental trees and lights
“To begin with, the stretch from Biswakarma building to Science City will be taken up followed by the other stretches,” the engineer said.