Metro officials hope for project-specific boost
Times of India | 24 July 2024“Based on the updated feedback from the Railway Board, the changed scenario may be acknowledged and funds may be revised for some metro projects,” a Railways official said on behalf of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), which is implementing most of the city’s Metro projects.
In the current fiscal, some new metro stretches are due to be added to the city’s existing 51km tracks. Among them is the much-awaited East-West Metro’s 2.5km Esplanade-Sealdah section. Once this section is added to the network, passengers can reach Sector V directly from Howrah Maidan. Sources said East-West Metro’s Rs 906 crore allocation would remain unchanged as the project is now on its last leg.
The other important corridor that has a Dec 2024 target is the Orange line’s 8km extension beyond Ruby. The 29km Line 6, which will link the Airport with the New Garia station, got Rs 1,791 crore in the Interim Budget. “The figure is likely to remain unchanged,” an official said.
The 3km Noapara-Dum Dum Cantonment section — or Phase 1 of the Yellow Line — underwent safety checks in Mar this year and is also likely to be launched in the current fiscal. But the 16km Noapara-Barasat Metro received a paltry Rs 200 crore because of land logjams beyond the airport. Now that a major hurdle in the way of the Yellow Line’s Airport-New Barrackpore section has been cleared, with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) allowing use of 18m tall cranes at the construction site and also letting Metro Railway to work outside the airport and Micheal Nagar, officials are hoping that the allocation may be revised.
In the Interim Budget, Bengal received Rs 13,810 crore, which was 11.5% higher than what it had received in the 2023-24 fiscal. Sources said some additional funds are expected on the safety and security categories.
