Kolkata: RVNL has finally got the possession of a land belonging to CMRI Hospital. However, the agency cannot make use of it since KMC has informed the former that it needs the entire stretch till Alipore Bodyguard Line to shift utilities to make way for the Purple Line's ramp and underground Kidderpore station.
TOI reported on Feb 11 that the land hurdle at Kidderpore is threatening to derail the Joka-Esplanade Metro project. Back in 2020, when Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), implementing the 14.1 km Metro corridor, first began notifying land acquisition, a consensus was reached by Kolkata Police and the railways to hand over 11,750 sq ft inside KP's Bodyguard Lines for the road widening and utility shifting. RVNL, in turn, would have refurbished the decrepit police barracks. But the land at Bodyguard Lines still remains unavailable.
"To make way for the 5 km underground section beyond the elevated Mominpur station till Esplanade, 1.2 km of Diamond Harbour Road — from the Mominpore crossing to Kidderpore St Thomas School — is being widened by 5 m on either side. The widening on the eastern or Behala-bound flank is all the more necessary for shifting underground utilities, for which RVNL has paid KMC Rs 57 crore," a railways official said.
Sources said after getting possession of the CMRI land, RVNL would have started dismantling the existing 165 m-long hospital boundary wall for KMC to begin the next phase of utility shifting. But the civic body would rather have the rest 850 m by 5 m of the Behala-bound flank instead of being handed over land in phases.
"We have already shifted utilities along the 350 m x 5 m land (belonging to Command Hospital) but couldn't proceed an inch for a year as RVNL didn't have land beyond this point. Once again, we are being told to shift the utilities only along a stretch of 165 m. This is time-consuming and a waste of manpower," a KMC official said.
Kolkata: RVNL has finally got the possession of a land belonging to CMRI Hospital. However, the agency cannot make use of it since KMC has informed the former that it needs the entire stretch till Alipore Bodyguard Line to shift utilities to make way for the Purple Line's ramp and underground Kidderpore station.
TOI reported on Feb 11 that the land hurdle at Kidderpore is threatening to derail the Joka-Esplanade Metro project. Back in 2020, when Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), implementing the 14.1 km Metro corridor, first began notifying land acquisition, a consensus was reached by Kolkata Police and the railways to hand over 11,750 sq ft inside KP's Bodyguard Lines for the road widening and utility shifting. RVNL, in turn, would have refurbished the decrepit police barracks. But the land at Bodyguard Lines still remains unavailable.
"To make way for the 5 km underground section beyond the elevated Mominpur station till Esplanade, 1.2 km of Diamond Harbour Road — from the Mominpore crossing to Kidderpore St Thomas School — is being widened by 5 m on either side. The widening on the eastern or Behala-bound flank is all the more necessary for shifting underground utilities, for which RVNL has paid KMC Rs 57 crore," a railways official said.
Sources said after getting possession of the CMRI land, RVNL would have started dismantling the existing 165 m-long hospital boundary wall for KMC to begin the next phase of utility shifting. But the civic body would rather have the rest 850 m by 5 m of the Behala-bound flank instead of being handed over land in phases.
"We have already shifted utilities along the 350 m x 5 m land (belonging to Command Hospital) but couldn't proceed an inch for a year as RVNL didn't have land beyond this point. Once again, we are being told to shift the utilities only along a stretch of 165 m. This is time-consuming and a waste of manpower," a KMC official said.