The final stretch of East-West Metro — between Esplanade and Sealdah — that will ensure a seamless commute between Howrah Maidan and Sector V will be operational around October, an official said on Wednesday.
Construction of the underground tunnels, a cross-passage between the two tunnels, and a passenger evacuation shaft are almost in the final stages on the 2.5km stretch between Esplanade and Sealdah, which saw three incidents of subsidence in 2019 and 2022 in the Bowbazar area.
These are likely to completed by the end of May, to be followed by the installation of electrical and signalling systems.
“The Esplanade-Sealdah stretch will be ready for commercial run by October this year,” said V.K. Srivastava, managing director of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), the implementing agency for the project. “Then it will take about a month to finish the work for installation of electrical and signalling systems.”
The entire East-West Metro corridor — Sector V to Howrah Maidan — spans 16.6km.
The Sealdah-Esplanade stretch was hit by three major accidents that left it behind the other portions of the project. The entire project got delayed by several years because of unavailability of land and other issues.
On August 31, 2019, hundreds of people had been displaced after a tunnel-boring machine hit a sand aquifer, leading to subsidence. Several buildings were damaged.
On May 11, 2022, the construction of a concrete structure to fill a gap — in the form of a retrieval shaft between the two tunnels — again led to a water leakage. The shaft was 38m in length and construction of 29m had been completed when the accident occurred.
On October 14, 2022, water seepage happened during the construction of a cross passage to link the two tunnels.
An official said reconstruction of 26 affected houses would start in the first week of April. Ten other affected buildings are being repaired.
However, the underground construction work is not related to that above at Bowbazar, said officials.
“Because of the accidents, we have taken a slow and careful approach," a KMRC official said. “We are doing grouting and then examining it. Once satisfied, we are continuing with the construction work. Even after that, there is continuous monitoring. That is why it is taking more time than usual,” said a KMRC official.
Civil construction work is being done in the Howrah-bound tunnel. “The east-bound tunnel, towards Sealdah, is complete. Work is on in the Howrah-bound tunnel," the official said.
The work that is being done is for repairing and strengthening of the portion of steel lines of the tunnel wall which were affected by the subsidence.
Also, work in cross passage 5B, the last of the five such passaged linking the two tunnels on the Sealdah-Esplanade stretch, is underway.
A crucial part of the construction is the completion of the passenger evacuation shaft in Bowbazar. KMRC managing director Srivastava said the base slab for the shaft is complete. Now the stairs are being built for the shaft.
