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Decks Cleared For Dunlop Flyover, Ramps

By Unregistered Visitors, Section Roads in Kolkata
Posted on Fri Jun 22, 2007 at 05:01:51 AM EST

The construction of the Dunlop interchange, off the second Vivekananda bridge, is finally ready to begin. The state government is all set to engage Mackintosh Burn to implement the Rs 30crore project next month.

The Rs 646crore Vivekananda bridge is likely to face huge congestion at the Dunlop Interchange, once it is opened to traffic. A flyover and two ramps at this juncture would
have helped the flow of traffic to and from Kolkata. The solution was never addressed until now.

The bridge's inauguration by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was deferred at the eleventh hour last week. "We started getting enquiries from the PMO about the Dunlop Interchange. That's when the PWD minister got down to iron out the glitches," said a source at the Writers' Buildings.

State PWD minister Kshiti Goswami said, "Mackintosh Burn will carry out the construction work." PWD has now got Consulting Engineering Services (CES) to redesign the Rs 30-crore Dunlop Interchange. Sources said the project was redesigned according to PWD's dictates, but the new design would not solve the problem.

A fact confirmed by S S Chakraborty, MD of CES. "The new design will hardly solve the problem because Mackintosh Burn has only agreed to construct the ramp on the southern side in the first phase. After two years, the northern ramp will be constructed in the second phase," he said.

It will take four years to complete the two ramps. CES had submitted a proposal for constructing a full-scale separated interchange at one go in 10 months.

But now, on the PWD's instructions, the ramp's construction time has been broken into two phases. Chakraborty said, "In the third phase, the government has agreed to construct the full-grade separated interchange, which is the only solution to the problem."

Sources said the PWD may not be able to implement the third phase because this will involve land acquisition. "In the current scenario, it will be impossible to acquire land. So the third phase is an impossibility," said an official at Writers.

Nilmoni Dhar, MD of Mackintosh Burn, said, "We have agreed to implement the project and build the ramps without shifting the utilities." This means drinking water and sewage lines will not have to be shifted to build the ramp. "We have managed to overcome a part of the hurdle. But what about the others?" asked an official, adding, "It seems that the second bridge may never be utilised properly, thanks to so many glitches."

Source:The Times Of India,22-06-07

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