Business Line                 27.04.2013

Cost increases stall key flyover project in city

Construction of the Park Circus-Parama flyover in Kolkata has come to a near standstill over high costs. The Rs 300-crore project has seen a Rs 220-crore cost increase. However, neither the State nor the Union Government is ready to shoulder the additional burden.

Under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the 9-km flyover is being executed by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). The original project deadline had already been extended by a year due to delay in land acquisition, resulting in a cost escalation of nearly 70 per cent. The flyover is being built by Hindusthan Construction Company Ltd.

“KMDA has not yet given certain approvals for the estimated additional cost to carry out the project work. The construction work has slowed down a lot. It has even stopped in some portions,” sources involved in the project told Business Line.

A. K. Saha, CEO, KMDA, however, said the revised deadline could not be met due to “technical reasons”. “The flyover is expected to be operational only by March 2014,” he added.

The work contract for a 600-metre bridge on the Park Circus leg was awarded to L&T only in December last year. Work on this bridge could not be initiated for long as KMDA was not able to rehabilitate a group of slum-dwellers and shift a sewerage pipeline from its planned route.