Finally, says woman who launched campaign against delayed opening
Times of India | 23 August 2025
Kolkata: Shruti Pathak, who started a campaign in July-Aug demanding that the East-West Metro's last stretch be opened for the sake of Kolkatans who were leading miserable lives negotiating bad roads and endless traffic snarls, was thrilled when the final stretch of the Green Line was thrown open to public on Friday.
By the time her campaign had reached a fortnight — she would post her demand on X every day — there were reports on chances of PM Narendra Modi launching the final stretch of East-West Metro and two other lines. The Hooghly resident said: "Since I am a suburban citizen and need to travel to Kolkata, I understand the pangs of daily travel.
" The interior designer works in Salt Lake Sector 2 and needs to commute from Hooghly to her workplace every day. "The last two months have been most exhausting. I used to travel on Green Line II and negotiate the rest of the journey amid hopes that the disjointed sections would be linked soon. On weekdays, it usually takes me around two to two-and-a-half to cover the distance from Hooghly to my workplace in Salt Lake, involving multiple changes in transport," Pathak said. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in Kolkata"That's why this metro line means so much to me and several others like me. It's not just about saving time. It's also about improving quality of life for thousands of daily commuters like me. My friends are lauding me for leading this campaign. but honestly I wouldn't call it a campaign at all. I'm just a taxpayer, like millions of other working Indians, and we have every right to ask for a functional, efficient system. We don't necessarily want the government to change — we want the system to improve. And this metro is a step in the right direction," she said.