Mamata gets nowhere with demand on Kolkata metro rail extension

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee might have forced the second Manmohan Singh government to buckle under her pressure on some fronts. But, her first demand—soon after becoming a part of the UPA government—has no takers on Raisina Hill.

Banerjee had written a letter to the Prime Minister in mid-2009, demanding her ministry be given charge of the east-west corridor of the Kolkata metro rail. The project is a joint venture of the Union urban development ministry and the government of West Bengal.

Trinamool MP and minister of state in the urban development ministry Saugata Roy told Business Standard, “We have not received any information in this regard.” Top sources in the government told Business Standard that Banerjee’s demand is unlikely to be granted. For, it might jeopardise the standard pattern of 50:50 JVs in upcoming projects. After the Delhi Metro’s success, Kochi metro is likely to be approved as a Centre-state partnership. In other public-private-partnership projects in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, private parties had tied up with respective state governments.

As the main Metro rail link in Kolkata is with the Railways, Banerjee wanted the PM to hand over this project to her ministry. She had also argued that trains in the new extensions should run on broad gauge instead of the standard gauge as in Delhi and other upcoming metros. This, she argued, would enable interchangeability between the two corridors.

But the Union urban ministry had vehemently opposed the move. The Left-ruled state government is also averse to changing the JV pattern after the work had started in a large part of the proposed route.

According to sources, the pace of the project was stepped up as soon as Banerjee put forward her demand. Even as the most congested areas on the proposed route are yet to be touched, a large part of other areas, such as Salt Lake, have been dug up and the work is going on full swing.

The proposed corridor also contains India’s first underwater transport project and is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The corridor would cross the Hooghly river 32 metres below the water level, covering a stretch of 900 metres under the water bed.

In June 2008, the Union Cabinet had approved the project to link Kolkata’s neighbouring Howrah district with the electronic hub at Salt Lake, a suburb of Kolkata. It would cover a length of 13.77 kms—8 km under ground and 5.77 km elevated on standard gauge. “The project will be completed in six and half years in two stages. The first stage of 5.77 km elevated section would be commissioned in five and a half year’s time,” the cabinet note said.