RIP: Kolkata Metro’s line to Barrackpore
It’s with sadness that I write this, but it must be covered. When the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) was in power in the centre, its head and now Chief Minister of West Bengal approved multiple metro lines as the Railway Minister. These were approved without any due diligence, forecast of funding or rehabilitation plans for people affected by the project. Now one by one, these issues are coming up and work has been delayed at multiple areas (at some for more than three years) due to the TMC’s hands-off land policy. Their refusal to remove encroachers has delayed these projects (which they had pushed & approved a couple years ago) indefinitely and there just isn’t any solution in sight.
BT Road barricaded for Barrackpore Metro line – photo: Telegraph India, used under Creative Commons License (By 2.0)
While piers have come up for all the other new lines (eg. New Garia-Airport, BBD Bagh-Joka), the line to Barrackpore from Noapara hasn’t even take off. This is because the TMC run Calcutta Municipal Corporation refuses to rehabilitate the 12.5 km Tallah-Palta water pipeline on BT Road despite signing an agreement with the Indian Railways (IR). This issue has been present since 2012 and there hasn’t been any movement since then. The original deadline was 2016 but not a single construction contract has been handed over since the IR knows that the bidding process would be futile without receiving a clear site.
It’s the middle of 2015 and until there’s a radical change in the city like..umm..a change of governance through the Assembly Elections of 2016, we can bid adieu to this line.
– TMRG
If there is a problem for replacing the Tala-Palta Water-pipe lines in the proposed Metro Route through BT Road, the said Metro from Dumdum to Kalyani via Barrackpore should be constructed through Kalyani Expressway. I think it is the easiest route as far as expenditure concerned for replacing the existing Water line from Tala to Plata.
Hi, the Railways (RNVL) has indefinitely put off this project and is currently now only concentrating on the other metro lines (see list)
Anirban -You really have given the best possible solution for metro to reach barrackpore (the oldest british cantonment) and beyond.just tell who has got the time to read your suggestion and implement.politics is the main subject /order of the day and hence no time for the city development.just wait and see that varanasi,kanpur and bihar will have metro much before the barrackpore extn could be thought of.one need real will and desire for such thing but then priority rests somewhere else.when a rly minister our CM could not initiate the work and now not in the office and you may draw your own conclusion.I suggest you leave your hope at that and pray to God if your children / G-Children could hope to have a ride in distance future-MK
VERY NICE IDEA! THE ALTERNATIVE IS A BLESSING!
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