Phones ready, prayers on lips, Kol dives under the Hooghly
Times of India | 16 March 2024
KOLKATA: At 7.04am on Friday, around 2,000 passengers took the plunge under the Hooghly, cellphone cameras on video mode, prayers on their lips and a feverish excitement in their eyes. As the train approached the under-river section marked by blue LED lights and fish motifs on walls, a deafening roar drowned the recorded voice announcing the momentous occasion.Hundreds of smartphones stayed glued to the windows and the faithful folded their hands in reverence to the holy river as the historic 49 seconds went past in a jiffy.
"This is a goosebump-moment. Whoever imagined that a day would come when we would be travelling below the Hooghly that separates Howrah and Kolkata? I am not a very religious person, but experiencing this remarkable engineering feat brings immense joy," said Gargi Mitra, whose home is a stone's throw from East-West's Howrah Maidan station.
"I was about nine when construction started at Howrah Maidan. Since then, we have heard about the hiccups, hurdles and milestones achieved. Finally, we are on this Metro. It feels surreal," said 21-year-old Soumya Chatterjee, a student of Narasinha Dutt College in Howrah.
Most of those on board had queued up more than an hour before the shutters went up at the terminal Howrah Maidan and Esplanade stations. At the Howrah Maidan end, a scuffle broke out among passengers keen to be the "first to arrive". Gour Chandra Bhandari, 76, had come all the way from Tarakeswar on Thursday evening and slept outside the station to achieve the "honour" of being the first to buy the Metro ticket, but was left much behind by youngsters who raced past him and punched in with their smartcards.
Gour Chandra Bhandari, 76, from Tarakeswar had spent the night outside the station to achieve the "honour" of being the first to buy the Metro ticket, but was piped to the post by youngsters. "I had made my plans the day I watched the PM take the Metro ride below the river on March 6," said a crestfallen Bhandari.
Before the train started at 7am, some of the passengers checked out the state-of-the-art rake, the motorman's cabin even as an indulgent Rabi Ranjan Bhakat, Metro Railway's chief loco inspector, clicked pictures of the "first under-river passengers".
Once on board, every person had their cellphones ready to record the historic moment. Ecstatic commuters peered out of the windows as the train reached the blue-LED lit section. "But, where is the water? exclaimed a confused Bimal Prakash of Bally, unaware of the engineering intricacies, and were promptly schooled by fellow passengers.
The first train took 11 minutes - three minutes longer than scheduled - to cover the 4.8km distance between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade. Waiting time at stations was marginally more than the usual 30 seconds, allowing people to check out the aesthetically built Howrah and Mahakaran stations, en route.
As the day wore on, there was no sign of the passenger rush abating as thousands of office-goers who reached Howrah Station by suburban trains, took the Metro to reach the central business district across the river in Kolkata. They were joined by commuters of long-distance trains who took the East-West Metro (Green line) from Howrah Station to reach Esplanade, which has an interface with the existing North-South (Blue) line that again has an interface with the New Garia-Ruby (Orange line) at New Garia.
Consequently, the ferry services across the river from Howrah Station lost at least 30% of its passengers on Friday.
The evenings were no different for E-W Metro as thousands trooped back to Esplanade and Mahakaran after office to take the under-river ride.