KOLKATA: The permission to start shifting of utility lines for connecting AJC Road with the newly constructed Parama flyover has finally been granted by the Kolkata traffic police. Work of shifting MTNL lines is likely to begin this Saturday but police are yet to take a call on the day when Congress Exhibition Road and Nasiruddin% Road will be partially shut down to facilitate work.

Once the shutting down happens, there will be just enough space for a single bus to pass through the narrow channel. "We have a co-ordination meeting to arrive at a decision. It is expected any time next month. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had told a gathering in north Kolkata on Monday that at least one arm of the link will be completed by March next year," said DC (traffic) Solomon V Nesakumar.

Sources in Kolkata Police said they might be forced to divert a few buses around Park Circus to bring down the load on the seven-point crossing. There is also a proposal to make Dargah Road more approachable so that it can handle pressure of buses and trucks arriving from the EM Bypass side. Ideally, though, local police sources maintained that they want both buses and trucks to use the flyover. "We have to go for trials. But the ultimate aim is to cause least inconvenience to commuters," said a source.

Earlier, KMDA and HCC - the implementing agency - had hinted that the Park Circus-Parama Island flyover project was about to miss its deadline by a year because the state was still dragging its feet in handing over Congress Exhibition Road and Nasiruddin Road for construction. The police, however, have maintained that with the festival season in full swing and the main flyover facing certain traffic issues in its initial stages, they cannot rush with permissions.

While the main trunk of the flyover (between Spring Club housing and Park Circus seven-point crossing) was thrown open to the public ahead of Durga Puja, the entire stretch of the flyover, which is touted as the country's third-longest once it joins the AJC Bose Road flyover, may not be fully operational until 2017. This part of the structure will have two arms running above Congress Exhibition Road and Nasiruddin Road before merging with the AJC Bose Road flyover.

Traffic cops said the initial work, too, is important and lengthy. Several underground utilities such as water pipes, electricity cables and gas lines will have to be shifted. The fact that there are no maps of underground utilities (except for Greater Calcutta Gas Supply) has added to the problem. The utilities were built in the British era and demand kid-glove construction activity. With the Assembly elections due in May 2016, Mamata has been swearing on infrastructure development as one of the achievements of her government.

