On day of Nabanna march, India’s first under-river line links Howrah with Kolkata
Times of India | 28 August 2024
Kolkata: Metro proved to be a lifeline yet again on Tuesday with East-West Metro joining the North-South line to ferry passengers underground even as clashes between cops and protesters raged on the streets. The Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section of the East-West Metro was the only available commute option between the twin cities on Tuesday.
The passenger count of the section crossed 47,000 — the average daily ridership of the corridor since it was launched in March — by 5pm on Tuesday.Metro officials believed Tuesday’s final figures (after the last train departed at 9.45pm) would be higher than the 70,000 registered on the first day (March 15) of the corridor. The North-South Metro carried 3 lakh passengers till 5pm. Its daily ridership is around 5 lakhs.
From 7am, people from both cities thronged the four metro stations, painfully aware there would be no other means to travel across. “Last Tuesday (Aug 20), the commuter count till 5pm was around 28,000,” Metro Railway’s CPRO Kausik Mitra said.
The ‘Chhatra Samaj’ agitation completely severed road connectivity on the other side of the Hooghly. Buses, taxis and app cabs disappeared on the Howrah side. “I drive my bike to work (in Kolkata) every day. Sensing trouble, I took the morning metro to attend the rehearsals at Golpark. Was stuck till 6pm even as the rehearsals were over by 3pm because there was no transport from the Howrah Maidan station,” rued musician Soumendu Das, a resident of Mandirtala.
Everyone was, however, grateful that the Metro line was there to ferry them to and from Kolkata. “We are taking the Rajdhani Express. If it hadn’t been for the new metro, we would have missed the train,” said Kalighat resident S K Das (72)
Mecheda resident Nirmal Das, who works at Esplanade post-office, looked tired and happy: “This was my first under-river metro journey. I was planning to take the ride for the last five months. I did take the ride on Tuesday but it was not a choice that I made. I was compelled to take the metro as nothing was moving on the surface.”