After clearing one hurdle, when the Indian Army finally gave the green light for work to carried out in the Maidan area, the Joka-B. B. D. Bagh Metro project is now faced with another challenge.
The underground tunnel of Line-III of the city’s various metro projects is anticipated to run into a host of drainage and drinking water pipes of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation at Kidderpore. A high level meeting of the state Transport Department, Metro railway officials, its implementing agencies and the Army was held at the office of the Transport Department at Kasba today.
A detailed discussion on the hurdles, encroachments and other obstructions including the final commissioning till Taratala and hurdles at Kidderpore was also underscored. Notably, the project, earlier this week, received the much-awaited green signal from the Army, which told Calcutta High Court that it has no objection to tracks being laid below the Maidan and underground work on its land.
The 14.4km metro corridor is partially elevated till Mominpore and the rest of the stretch till Esplanade is underground. Work from Joka to Taratala has almost been completed and the authorities even had plans of commercial operations of the stretch soon. However, the authorities are now considering a change in the plan.
“As work from Joka to Taratala is done, we had urged the metro railway authorities for final commissioning of the stretch. However, the Rail Board is said to have plans of opening it only when the work till Majerhat is completed. The work till Majerhat will take another two to three months and then the stretch will be operational,” informed the state Transport Minister, Firhad Hakim.
Talking about the remaining part of the Joka-B. B. D. Bagh project, the minister said that in the remaining stretch from Kidderpore, where waterlogging is already a big problem, the drainage and drinking water line could be damaged because of the upcoming metro project.
“It has been decided that a meeting will be held at KMC to discuss where we will have to recognize which pipes will have to be broken for the metro project,” added Mr Hakim. The state Transport Department will also provide funds for rehabilitation of encroachers at Noapara where the project is faced with obstructions. The department has urged the South Dum Dum Municipality to the needful at the earliest, informed Mr Hakim.