East-West Metro corridor project likely to be delayed by up

Completion of the East-West Metro corridor is likely to be delayed by up to one year due to the accident caused by an aquifer burst in Bowbazar area during drilling operations in August, a senior KMRC official said.

The 16.6-km-long rapid transit system, connecting the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, may now be completed by mid-2022, he said.

"The project was scheduled to be completed by June 2021, but we are apprehending that it may get delayed by approximately six months to one year," the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) official said.

Technical experts are working on a roadmap for resumption of work on the Bowbazar stretch, he said.

"Our priority is restoration work in the affected area. An expert team is working on the resumption of tunnel boring work at the site," he told PTI.

The official said that there was no plan to change the route of the East-West Metro due to the accident since only one km of tunnelling work was left to be completed.

He said that the KMRC authorites were expecting to finalise a plan to restart work for the rest of the tunnel "very soon."