KOLKATA (Metro Rail News): The East-West Metro is all set to begin its journey on February 13, 2020, after the inauguration the distance between Information Technolgy hub of Sector-V in Salt Lake City to the Yuva Bharati Krirangan Stadium will be reduced, a Kolkata Metro official said on Monday.
The construction of the East-West Metro, scheduled to cover a stretch of 16.6 kilometres, has been delayed owing to an aquifer burst at Bowbazar in central Kolkata in August 2019 during tunnel boring work.
The inaugural service of East-West Metro will start from February 13,” a Metro spokesperson said. As stated in the report, the necessary safety trials have been done in various areas like railway tracks, power cables and railway stations along with others for this operation.
The shortened services of 5 km from Sector V to the stadium is likely to provide some relief to office goers and students of various educational institutes as well as different locations of the area.
The Kolkata East-West Metro, for connecting two cities of Kolkata and Howrah, expected to be completed by June 2021. However, its completion is likely to be delayed by up to one year due to an accident caused by an aquifer burst in Bowbazar area during drilling operations on August 31 last year.
Due to the accident, the Tunnel boring for the East-West corridor was stopped and it would restart only when the Calcutta High Court gives its nod. It is said by the KMRC to a division bench presided by Chief justice TBN Radhakrishnan in early September in connection with a PIL against tunnelling work in the crowded area in the city.
Several buildings at Durga Pituri Lane and Syakra Para Lane in Bowbazar had collapsed or developed cracks after an aquifer broke during tunnel boring and water and silt gushed in, leading to severe ground subsidence in the vicinity.
