Union Minister of State for Urban Development Sougata Ray on Thursday said the renovated Kolkata airport will be ready by the end of 2011.
“The new Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport will be ready by the end if this year. Besides there will be new air traffic control,” he said.
He was speaking at the two-day conference on ‘Infrastructure: The Global Growth Driver’, organised by Industrial and Engineering Products in association with Bharat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Ray informed that “a flyover will be built between Park Circus and EM Bypass which will reduce the traffic problems in the city considerably.”
He said in Kolkata, one of the main aims of the government is to cover the entire city by Metro Rail connectivity.
?Dum Dum-Barrackpore, Dum Dum-Barasat, Garia-Rajarhat, Joka-BBD Bag, are the metro inclusions, our idea is to cover whole of Kolkata in Metro network,? he said.
He also said that the Bus Rapid Transit system will be implemented in the city to provide momentum and better connectivity to the bus transport in the city.
?More work will come up after the political uncertainty comes to an end in the coming months,” Ray said.
Ray said the urban population has increased significantly, so is its challenge for the government to develop the infrastructure and provide basic facilities to the citizens.
“Developing world is rapidly becoming urban and hence the areas face enormous challenge to provide basic infrastructure help like water supply, transport, food supply and others to the citizens,” Ray said.
He mentioned that the unregulated and haphazard growth in cities further strain the development which also leads to environmental degradation.
“Some upgradation, waste management, road transport are essential; the current plan targets water supply, drainage, sewage and other facilities to reach 100 % population,” Ray said.
The two day conference commenced in the city on Thursday and will aim at showcasing the best practices from global infrastructures success stories and discuss on implementation of similar strategies in India.
R.V Pandit, CMD, IPFonline Ltd, Hemant Kanoria, CMD, SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd, were also present at the event.