MY KOLKATA EDUGRAPH
ADVERTISEMENT
Regular-article-logo Tuesday, 24 December 2024

Uncertainty looms large on Calcutta's cave-in zone

Complaints galore about Metro: CM Mamata Banerjee

Our Special Correspondent Calcutta Published 03.09.19, 09:36 PM
Buildings in Durga Pituri Lane, Bowbazar, that have collapsed because of the East-West Metro’s tunnel-boring work.

Buildings in Durga Pituri Lane, Bowbazar, that have collapsed because of the East-West Metro’s tunnel-boring work. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Metro trains are frequently suffering from snags and getting stranded at stations, chief minister Mamata Banerjee told Metro general manager P.C. Sharma during a meeting at Nabanna on Tuesday.

“Onek complaint aasche. Train dariye jachche station e. Samne pujor morsum. Ami GM ke bolechhi dekhte (Complaints are pouring in. Trains are left stranded at stations. The festive season is coming. I have asked the GM to look into the matter),” Mamata said after the meeting to discuss rehabilitation of residents of buildings in Bowbazar that have suffered damage because of the East-West Metro work.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The general manager has told me that new rakes (for north-south Metro) are due to arrive and things will not be like this once they come. I have requested him to ensure that passengers are not troubled during the Puja,” she said.

One of the new rakes built at the Integral Coach Factory has been sent back to the manufacturing unit near Chennai for repairs. “There is a possibility that the train would come back to Noapara before the Puja. But there is no certainty that the train would be ready for commercial runs before the Puja,” an official said.

More than the Puja days, when Metro runs a curtailed service, officials are worried about the pre-Puja rush that would start in a week. In September 2018, the passenger count was 1.88 crore and in October, 1.94 crore.

The carrier has been running more trains on weekends since last Saturday.

The past few months have seen a series of snags, most related to faulty doors.

On July 13, a 66-year-old passenger died as his hand got trapped in the closing door of a train and he was dragged to death.

On August 21, an AC Metro train with passengers on board ran its full stretch from Dum Dum to Kavi Subhash (New Garia) with one of its doors open.

On Saturday, faulty doors disrupted services thrice in two hours.

A Dum Dum-bound train ran three stations with a door open. Two other trains travelling to New Garia had to be evacuated and the rakes taken to the yard because of malfunctioning doors.

There are 25 trains — 11 non-AC and 14 AC — in Metro’s fleet at the moment, including two new rakes from the Integral Coach Factory.

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT