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Foundation laid for East-West Metro Corridor

KOLKATA: The foundation stone of the East-West Metro Corridor Project, linking the Salt Lake in the city to Howrah — the country’s first metro transit system to pass through a tunnel beneath a river (Hooghly) — was laid here on Sunday by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Describing the Rs.4,874.58-crore project as an “engineering marvel,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chief guest at the function, said, “This is the first time in our country that a metro corridor is constructed beneath a river.”

He referred to the London Underground that runs through the Thames Tunnel beneath the Thames – “one that we used to think of once as the Eighth Wonder of the World,” he added.

The project, whose operation is scheduled to begin in October 2014, will cover a distance of 14.67 km, 8.9 km of which will be elevated. The underground corridor will cross the river Hooghly at a depth of about 60 feet from the water level. Half of the 12 stations to be set up will be underground. It will run between the Salt Lake and Howrah Maidan.

The metro would run every three minutes, which will be brought down by 30 seconds at a subsequent stage, Mr. Bhattacharjee said. The government had drawn up a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of 432 families who would have to be evicted for the project.

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