New Garia-Airport Metro project may get operational next fiscal

Kolkata: Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) is hoping to make the first phase of the New Garia- Airport Metro project from Kavi Subhas (New Garia) to Hemanta Mukherjee (Ruby)—a 7km-long stretch—operational by the next financial year 2021-22.

The work in this truncated stretch has gained momentum with the state government agreeing to remove the Metro project's overlapping alignment with an arm of the proposed Ruby flyover. "We will now be able to fill up the 120m viaduct gap near Avishikta crossing to build five pillars," said an RVNL official. Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority's (KMDA) proposed flyover will come up on either side of the New- Garia Airport Metro viaduct. The length of the south bound flank from VIP Bazar to Metro Cash and Carry will be a little over 3km. The north bound flank that will go beyond VIP Bazaar will be 4 km-long.

The draft DPR prepared by RITES showed the flyover overlapping with the existing Metro pier 112 at the Kavi Sukanta station. So, KMDA had asked RVNL to have the pier demolished. After a series of meetings RVNL offered to raze a smaller pier below Kavi Sukanta station and reduce the station's length by 30 m to facilitate KMDA's construction. The decision did not affect the Metro alignment, nor did RVNL require to demolish the viaduct that was built a long time back.

RITES had stamped its approval to the RVNL and hence all logjams related to the project have been cleared.

Now, the track laying work from the terminal station Kavi Subhas to Hemant Mukherjee is going on in full swing, besides the construction of the five stations- Kavi Subhas, Satyajit Ray, Jyotirindranath Nandi, Kavi Sukanta and Hemant Mukherjee.

The tracks are ballast-less that offer high consistency in track geometry and facilitate high speed movement. RVNL is executing the city's longest Metro corridor from New Garia to Airport that stretches 32 km.