KMRC faces deadline delay

Officials of the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) - a joint venture between the Union urban development ministry and the West Bengal Government, along with the Japan International Cooperation Agency - that is executing the corridor, have indicated that the 2014 deadline may have to be pushed ahead as work on certain sections including Rs 4,676 crore East-West Metro corridor are going slower than originally intended. The East-West Metro project will connect Salt Lake to Howrah through a 13.70 km route, of which 5.70 km will consist of an elevated track and the remainder, including a tunnel under the Hooghly river, will be underground. However, at the Howrah and Seal-dah railway stations, KMRC temporarily requires about 8,000 sq ft of space for construction of stations, which will subsequently be returned to the railways. But these spaces are yet to be allocated, even though the Mamata Banerjee-led Ministry of Railways has previously sought permission to become a primary stakeholder in this project.