The 2.448 km Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Flyover project in Kolkata is complete and would be inaugurated at the hands of Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, today (19 August 2003.)

Constructed by Larsen & Toubro (ECC division) for the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioner, this is the longest flyover in Kolkata.

The four-lane flyover was constructed in 29 months with project work commencing on 15 March 2001.

Project Details

Background: The Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose (AJCB) flyover project involves construction of a steel flyover across the 2.6 km stretch from Beckbagan in the west to the place where the second Hooghly bridge meets the Acharya Jagdish Bose Road in the west. Yachiyo Engineering Company, and M.N.Dastur & Co. are the consultants for the project.

Route: The 2.6 km AJCB flyover would take off at Park Circus over Ballygunje Road and Sarat Bose Road, before touching down at Victoria South Gate.

Funding: The project, called Calcutta Transport Infrastructure Development Project (CTIDP) would be financed jointly by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and the West Bengal Government. JBIC is to meet 85 per cent of the cost.

Progress: Bids were invited for the Rs.140 crore package of which the selection of bids has become difficult as the lowest bid by L&T at Rs.178.5 crore has technical flaws. The second lowest bidder, Afcons, had bid at Rs.185 crore. This bid too faced problems as Afcons did not have a factory where it could fabricate the 11,000 tonnes of steel required to construct the flyover.

The other bidders for the project were Kvaerner of Netherlands, Seng Young of Korea, Hindustan Construction Company, Indian Railways Construction Company and Besix of Belgium.

In February 2001 work on the flyover commenced with Larsen & Toubro executing the project. 

The Intelligence Bureau is objecting the construction of flyover as it may pose security threat to the office of Bangladesh Deputy High Commission located close by. Since the Bangladeshi officials have refused to move house the only way to get the project going is to construct a 8 ft wall along the flyover or to scrap the project.

In October 2002, plans for a section of the flyover has been changed as earlier the project proved a security threat to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission. The parapets of the flyover have been re-designed and will now be constructed much higher.