Kolkata East-West Metro Corridor Work To Recommence Soon: Official

The project, earlier scheduled to be completed by June, 2021, got delayed by more than 6 months. (File)

Days after the Centre granted permission to resume construction work in COVID-19 red zones with certain riders, a senior official of the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) on Sunday said tunneling work for the East-West project in the city will recommence soon.

The corporation is in the process of getting its workers and engineers back to the construction sites, where arrangements would also be made for their accommodation, the official said.

Work for the 16.6-km-long rapid transit system, connecting the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, came to a halt after a nationwide lockdown was imposed by the Union government to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We will have to ensure a steady supply of materials for the tunnel-boring work. Construction will resume after the logistics are in place. Once the men and materials are ready, we will get on with the work, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the MHA," he told PTI.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a directive issued recently, has allowed construction work in the red zones of urban areas where labourers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside.

Kolkata, Howrah and North Parganas districts, the areas through which the East-West Metro corridor passes, have been declared red zones, in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

Work for the crucial East-West metro tunnel, which was put on hold after a boring machine hit an aquifer, had recommenced in February after a gap of several months.

Several buildings in Bowbazar area of the city had developed cracks and some even collapsed following the accident on August 31 last year.

The project, earlier scheduled to be completed by June, 2021, got delayed by more than six months.

Asked about the impact of the lockdown on the project, the KMRC official said efforts will be made to increase the speed of the construction work.

On February 13, the 4.88 km-long first phase of the East-West Metro line, connecting the information technology hub of Sector V in Salt Lake with Yuva Bharati Krirangan stadium, got functional.