Railway Board Chief Inspects East-West Metro Tunnel Beneath Hooghly River

Railway Board Chairman and CEO Jaya Varma Sinha inspected the underground section of the East-West Metro, traversing the country's first-of-its-kind tunnel beneath the Hooghly River. Sinha examined passenger amenities and safety measures planned for the operational stretch. She traveled from Howrah Maidan station to Esplanade station aboard a train passing under the Hooghly, according to a Kolkata Metro official. Sinha engaged in a thorough discussion about the project with Metro Railway General Manager P Uday Kumar Reddy and other senior officials from Metro and Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRCL), the agency responsible for executing the East-West project. Officials briefed her on the project's progress. Sinha instructed that all passenger safety measures be implemented before commissioning this section, the official stated. The East-West Metro connects Sector V in Salt Lake, West Bengal's IT hub, with Howrah Maidan, spanning 16.55 kilometers. Of this, a 9.30-kilometer stretch between Sector V and Sealdah is currently operational. Completion of the Sealdah to Esplanade section has been delayed due to accidents in the Bowbazar area of central Kolkata during tunneling work. An aquifer burst in that area on August 31, 2019, causing severe ground subsidence and the collapse of several buildings. Two additional water leakage incidents at the same site in 2022 have also hindered project completion.