27.5.13

Kolkata EW Metro update

The East West Metro project may have been grappling with realignment issues, funds crunch, land acquisition problems and non-cooperation from the Mamata Banerjee government, but it has managed to trundle past the Sealdah crossover on one end and completed 93% of the viaduct (elevated portion) construction. It is now steering ahead with related activity like building stations, repairing roads and the like.
The trans-Hooghly project, supposed to join Salt Lake with Howrah, is expected to reach Sealdah station in October even if there is serious uncertainty beyond this point. But what is most important is that after completing the Subhas Sarovar-Phoolbagan stretch, the tunnel has now reached the Sealdah crossover (this is where the rakes can cross over from one track to another), about 660 metres from Sealdah station. Tunnelling beyond the crossover begins in July so that tracks can be laid up to Sealdah station in another three months. The merging of the elevated tracks with the tunnel is also done and the authorities will soon start restoring Subhas Sarovar, which has gone through massive digging for more than four years now.
On the eastern part of the tunnel (from Sealdah crossover to Phoolbagan), work had started on October 17 last year. It’s almost complete now and the breakthrough at Phoolbagan is expected next week. On the western part, the tunnelling started on November 26, 2012, as minister of state for railways Adhir Chowdhury laid the foundation stone. Now, 850 m out of 1,320 m have been done. The breakthrough is likely next month.
The East-West Metro, with a length of 14.58 km (including 5.74 km viaduct and 8.84 km tunnel), is being developed jointly by the railways and the ministry of urban development through a special purpose vehicle, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC). The ambitious project is the city’s only hope since Kolkata has expanded manifold since the north-south Metro came into being on October 24, 1984. The existing lifeline, undoubtedly, has failed to keep pace with the city’s growth.
More than funding, it is land acquisition issues and the state government’s noncooperation that is posing the biggest challenge for the east-west expansion. After the state handed over its entire stake to railways, it withdrew its application from a Division Bench of the Calcutta high court, leaving the Central and Mahakaran stations in jeopardy. In court, the state was defending the land acquisition executed by it, but suddenly made a U-turn after Mamata Banerjee walked out of UPA-II, saying it was not ready to take on the responsibility. A month ago, the state agreed to be a party to it. But the flip-flop and the realignment, being imposed by the Mamata Banerjee government has made a holistic execution of the project impossible. Therefore, once the tracks are laid down till Sealdah station, the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will have to be extracted from underground and the work will come to a halt.
Work for the elevated portion (viaduct) — between Salt Lake Sector V and Subhas Sarovar — is almost complete, excepting the point which is engulfed in land dispute (Duttabad), thanks to political interference. The joining of the viaduct at Duttabad now depends on resolving acquisition of 7,300 sq m.
As the authorities slug it out with different parties, those at the execution level continue to slog 24x7, achieving newer deadlines. KMRC has started constructing stations at Phoolbagan and Sealdah, but the future of Central station remains uncertain till the litigation is resolved.

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