The Metro Railway authorities on Saturday rued the delay in getting a no objection certificate (NOC) from Calcutta Police for construction of the viaduct near Beleghata station in the north-eastern part of the city.

The construction is necessary for commissioning Metro services along the Ruby Crossing-Beleghata stretch on the elevated tracks running parallel to the arterial EM Bypass, the lifeline between the northern and southern parts of the city.

In response to the allegation, Calcutta Police said some corrective measures regarding the Beleghata station issue were suggested from the traffic department, which were yet to be completed.

In a statement, the Metro Railway spokesperson said after inspecting the stretch, "Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, Janak Kumar Garg verbally advised to construct additional 90-metre viaduct beyond Beleghata station limit for signal overlap and Foot Over Bridge (FOB) to enable commuters cross the busy bypass to enter Beleghata station safely.

Garg, who completed the inspection of Noapara to DumDum Cantonment stretch of Yellow Line and Ruby Crossing (Hemanta Mukhopadhyay) to Beleghata stretch of the Orange Line, expressed "unhappiness" that these works have been held up as the 'traffic block' was not effected along that spot on bypass, the statement said.

"Necessary diversion of road, extra widening of the road, new road bridge have been constructed by RVNL (Rail Vikash Nigam Ltd) and proper illumination has also been done as per the requirement of traffic department to address the issue of movement of vehicular traffic during the block, but the traffic police authorities are yet to issue necessary NOC," the spokesperson said.

This was resulting in "unnecessary" delay in the project, he said.

The Metro Railway Spokesperson said several rounds of meetings and joint site inspections have already been conducted.

RVNL authorities wrote letters to the Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic Department on January 5, March 12 and 14 requesting him to provide NOC for the traffic block. Another letter had also been sent to the Commissioner of Kolkata Police on February 6 requesting him to provide NOC for traffic diversion to construct one span, middle support at the median of EM Bypass for the foot over bridge at Beleghata station, the spokesperson said.

Calcutta Police sources said talks were on with RVNL and Metro about building the required infrastructure without disturbing the traffic movement along the busy stretch where thousands of vehicles ply every day.

On March 29, Garg undertook speed trials on the overhead 4.4-km section between Ruby and Beleghata and inspected the entry and exit gates, ticketing system, escalators, lifts, signage boards, electronic interlocking (EI) system, and signal equipment room of Beleghata, Barun Sengupta, Ritwik Ghatak and VIP Bazar stations.

Once commissioned the New Garia-Beleghata stretch will cover a distance of over 10 km which is important for commuters, especially in the rush hour traffic.

The Calcutta Metro and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) are building the 30-km line, also known as the Orange Line, connecting New Garia on the southern fringes of the city to the airport on the northern fringes via the satellite towns of Salt Lake and New Town.

Presently trains ply along the Ruby Crossing-New Garia stretch which began from March 15.

The Calcutta Police in a statement said, "No representatives from RVNL or Metro were present for important meetings where issues need to be discussed."

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