A major impasse has been solved for New Garia-Airport Metro as IIT-Kharagpur has cleared the pier planned on EM Bypass at Chingrighata crossing. Last October, KMDA, custodian of Bypass, asked IIT-Kharagpur to deduce whether the elliptical pier, ‘318’, could be dropped since it would take up much space at the messy crossing.
The premiere technology institute in its report has advised KMDA that pier 318 can’t be done away with at this stage. A senior KMDA official said, “We hope the long-standing impasse will end now.” KMDA will be placing IIT’s report before Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the implementing agency of the project.
RVNL has told KMDA that without pier 318, the gap between the two pillars (before and after 318) increases from 28m to 60m. The curvaceous elevated Metro viaduct should sit safely on these three pillars while turning right towards Nicco Park.
RVNL said the pillar on the median at Chingrighata is crucial since the viaduct curve is too sharp (352.1m radius). IIT is drawing up a long-term solution for the Chingrighata crossing where too many roads, from the Sector V-end, Beliaghata and Chaulpatty meet.
The intersection on the 29km long EM Bypass takes much traffic load and road mishaps are common. In June 2019, KMDA came up with a more feasible layout for the crossing. Among them were a wider road along Jal Vayu Vihar, a bridge over the canal for buses to cross over to Nicco Park, two foot-overbridges (FOBs) at Shantinagar and Chaulpatty, a wider bridge culvert and a cyclists’ bay.
While widening the culvert, KMDA realized that pier 318 would occupy 4.1 sqm space and cramp the already congested EM Bypass-Salt Lake Bypass crossing. With RVNL refusing to part with the pier, KMDA sought IIT’s assessment.