Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Kolkata Metro Rail achieved a milestone Tuesday with a successful trial run through the west-bound tunnel on the 2.63 km Sealdah-Esplanade stretch of the Green Line. This stretch, passing through Bowbazar, saw major hurdles during its construction.
The event was attended by P. Uday Kumar Reddy, General Manager of Metro Railway and Chairman of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), along with other senior officials.
“It was a successful trial run. Once this stretch is commissioned, commuting from Sealdah and Howrah from different parts of Kolkata and adjoining areas will be a cakewalk,” said a Metro official.
The project faced significant delays due to recurring water seepage and soil subsidence in Bowbazar, a critical 200-metre stretch. Authorities completed the track-laying in the affected area on December 25 last year.
On Aug 31, 2019, a giant tunnel boring machine burrowing through the Bowbazar part of the construction, punctured a sand aquifer. Water gushed out, at least 25 houses collapsed and several others were damaged. Authorities had to evacuate over 700 residents.
Two more incidents of subsidence followed, one of them at the same spot on Durga Pituri Lane in May 2022.
Former Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had even written to Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the plight of Bowbazar's people then.
Authorities had to accommodate residents of these affected areas to nearby hotels.
The construction of this stretch faced political challenges too. Nine years ago, former BJP MP and Union minister Babul Supriyo had complained that the centre was not getting requisite cooperation from the state government for land issues. In a jab, he had said he would invite the chief minister if the project was completed in 2018 with state’s help.
Supriyo later switched sides and joined the Trinamul. He is now a minister in the TMC government.
The 200-metre stretch in Bowbazar, infamous for recurring challenges, now appears ready for further progress.
The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation has announced a suspension of commercial services on this route from February 8 to March 24 to expedite the work in this stretch.
The East-West Metro now operates in two phases: Sector V to Sealdah (Phase 1) and Howrah Maidan to Esplanade (Phase 2). Commercial services in Phase 1 remain suspended on Sundays.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) will inspect the line by the end of March. This inspection is a mandatory step before initiating full-scale operations on the stretch.
