The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), a joint venture between West Bengal government and Union urban debvelopment ministry, which is executing the East-West corridor of the city's metro railway system, has awarded the first contract for undertaking the underground section of the project.

ITD Cementation Ltd, the domestic subsidiary of the to Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, will construct the first underground section starting from Subhas Sarobar to Central Metro station, at a cost of Rs 909 crore.

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While the first part of the underground portion will be undertaken by ITD Cementation, KMRC will shortly float another tender for the other section of the project, which is to pass under the Hooghly river, known as UG-I. “The contract was finalised about 10 days back and the cost for the construction of this section is lower than our internal estimates. We have completed the technical evaluation for the UG-I and if we get proper rates, the contract could be awarded within a couple of months,” a KMRC official said.

Unlike the cut-and-cover method that was employed in the construction of the existing Kolkata Metro, the East-West project will use state-of-the-art tunnel boring machines for the underground sections that will lead to minimal disruptions on the surface.

Moreover, even for the construction of the underground stations, a top-down approach will be used wherein the upper sections of the stations will be built first and subsequently, the lower potions will be worked on. This, too, will mean that surface transport will not be severely impacted.

Despite slight delays, officials claim the elevated section of the East-West corridor will be operational by October 2013 while the entire project, inclusive of the underground section, will be in service by December 2014.

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