VIP Road
VIP Road (officially Kazi Nazrul Islam Sarani) is a major thoroughfare connecting the city of Kolkata with the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. Located in the North-Eastern outskirts of the city, it was built in 1962 to provide speedy connection with the city and its sole airport. VIP Road falls under the administration of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. To reduce traffic jams especially in the crossings of Kestopur & Baguiati, a flyover has been constructed over the stretch between Dum Dum Park and Teghoria, which opened in March 2015. Another flyover connecting VIP Road with EM Bypass has been opened in 2011, reducing traffic bottlenecks at Ultadanga crossing.
Description
- The VIP Road runs from Ultadanga to Jessore Road near Dum Dum, ending near the entrance of the Dum Dum Airport, the sole airport serving the metropolis. Several locations lie along this road, such as Ultadanga, Lake Town, Bangur Avenue, Baguiati, Keshtopur and Tegharia. In fact, growth of VIP Road has facilitated the growth of these localities after independence. These localities enjoy extremely high density of population.
- The stretch of VIP Road north of Baguiati are home to numerous residential complexes and shopping malls.
- VIP Road provides access to the planned township of Rajarhat via a connecting road at Tegharia.
- Belgharia Expressway, which provides access to NH2 and NH6, begins 2 km north of the junction with Jessore Road.
- VIP Road runs just north of Salt Lake Sector 1 and is well connected to it by several footbridges and kheyas.
Landmarks
- Eastern Paper Mills
- Lake Town footbridge
- Famous Baguiati Bazaar
- Big Bazaar
- Bazaar Kolkata & Vishal Mega Mart
- Haldiram Bhujiawala Pure Foods
- 2CBPO Military Camp
- Dum Dum Airport
Hotels
A number of budget hotels are located along the northern stretch of VIP Road
- Hotel Rupashi Bangla
- Hotel Host
- Hotel Airport Ashok
- Hotel Downtown
- Hotel King's Crown
Legacy
VIP Road was renamed after the great revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
In Popular Culture
Feluda or Pradosh Chandra Mitter and his friend Jatayu or Lal Mohon Ganguly and Felu's cousin Tapesh Ranjan Mitter are seen in a taxi driving down V.I.P Road towards Dum Dum Airport in a taxi in the movie Bombaiyer Bombete.
Alternate Route
Another bypass route (Major Arterial Road) to the airport via Rajarhat has been created, which connects Haldirams on VIP Road to Chingrighata on EM Bypass, passing through Rajarhat.