HC seeks Jan window for Chingrighata traffic halt

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal government to indicate by Monday a date in January when vehicular movement at the busy Chingrighata crossing in east Kolkata can be suspended to facilitate construction of pillars for the Orange Line Metro corridor linking Garia with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen was not persuaded by the state’s submission that traffic restrictions for the work could only be considered in February 2026.

The Advocate General, Kishore Datta, had argued that the Chingrighata stretch was expected to witness unusually heavy traffic during the upcoming Gangasagar Mela, making it difficult to block the junction in January. The Bench, however, insisted on a firm timeline and asked the state to come back with a specific January date, underscoring the prolonged delay in a key segment of the airport-bound Metro project.

During the hearing, the court was informed that the state government had convened a joint meeting with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the implementing agency of the project, on December 17 to resolve the deadlock over traffic management at Chingrighata.

The state maintained before the Bench that February would be a more feasible window for halting traffic at the junction to carry out the Metro construction.