New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) A 52-km stretch under four metro corridors is under construction in and around Kolkata, of which 20 km has been held up due to land acquisition and utility shifting issues pertaining to the state government, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Apprising the House about the status of these four corridors, the minister, in a written reply to a question, said that of the first corridor, the 7.74-km Joka-Majerhat stretch has been commissioned, while the balance work on the 6.26-km Majerhat to Esplanade section has been taken up.
For Khidderpur Metro Station on the corridor, the state government accorded approval for utility shifting and road traffic diversion after five years in July, but temporary shifting of unauthorised 528 shops at B C Roy Market on Defence land for the construction of Esplanade Metro Station on this corridor has been pending for more than three-and-a-half years, Vaishnaw said.
Providing details of the 32-km corridor connecting New Garia and Dum Dum Airport, Vaishnaw said the 9.8-km New Garia–Belaghata section has been commissioned, and work from Belaghata to Dum Dum Airport (22.2 km) has been taken up, he told Parliament.
However, progress on this stretch has been affected for the want of a temporary traffic diversion at Chingrighata crossing for the launching of a viaduct segment, the Railway minister said.
About the 18-km Noapara–Barasat metro corridor, Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha that the 6.77-km Noapara-Jai Hind Airport section has been commissioned and work from Jai Hind Airport to Michael Nagar is in progress.
“However, work from New Barrackpore to Barasat (7.5 km) is held up due to land acquisition and encroachment issues,” he said.
Similarly, in the 14.5 km Dakshineswar-Baranagar–Barrackpore metro corridor, the Baranagar–Dakshineshwar (2 km) section has been commissioned and work from Baranagar to Barrackpore is held up due to pending utility shifting in the alignment by state government authorities, Vaishnaw said.
The minister emphasised that the metro project in Kolkata started in 1972 and only 28 km was commissioned in 42 years; however, in the last 11 years — 2014 to 2025 — a 45 km stretch has been commissioned. PTI JP JP NSD NSD
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