Kolkata: In a PIL on prolonged delay in completion of Kolkata Metro’s Orange Line project, connecting Kavi Subhash (New Garia) to Kolkata airport, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the state to file a report on steps taken to resolve the traffic issue at Chingrighata junction.
The bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Smita Das De gave the order. The counsel appearing for Metro submitted that Metro Railway has sat with the state multiple times over the issue as well as produced relevant documents.
The matter will again be heard after 10 days.
The writ petition sought for judicial intervention in the prolonged delay of the Metro project. It attributed the delay to the non-issuance of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the State Traffic Department for diversion of traffic at the Chingrighata junction.
The petition alleged that despite substantial progress on the project, a 366-metre stretch between Beleghata and Gour Kishore Ghosh stations remains incomplete due to the absence of this NOC.
According to the petition, the project was sanctioned in 2010, and most of the civil work has been completed. However, repeated requests by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to the state authorities, specifically the Traffic Department, for the requisite NOC have not been responded to over the past year.
It was asserted that the Orange Line is of significant public importance as it connects major commercial, governmental, and IT zones across the city. Once operational, it is expected to substantially reduce travel time, ease traffic congestion, and cut down on pollution for lakhs
of commuters.
The delay, the petition claims, has resulted in heavy financial losses to the Metro authorities—estimated at Rs 1,376 crore over the past three years—and has caused inconvenience to the general public. It was prayed that the court consider appointing a retired High Court judge to monitor the remaining work.