The Bowbazar logjam, which has led to a long delay in the completion of the full course of the East-West Metro corridor, should be cleared soon, said the agency implementing the project.
The 2.5km stretch between Esplanade and Sealdah, more specifically an 800m stretch in Bowbazar, is the main hurdle. Bowbazar has seen three incidences of water seepage and subsidence since 2019.
The initial plan was to build eight cross-passages between Esplanade and Sealdah, each 250m apart. The construction of one of them led to the subsidence in October 2022.
“Now, we have decided to build five cross-passages. The distance between two of them will be 360m instead of 250m. For this tweak, we needed a clearance from the fire services department, which came at the start of this month,” said an official of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the implementing agency of the 16.5km corridor, which would link Salt Lake Sector V and Howrah Maidan.
It now runs between Sector V and Sealdah.
A cross-passage is built to link two tunnels. “In case of an emergency in one tunnel, passengers can use the cross-passage to reach the other tunnel,” the official said.
The construction of a ventilation shaft at Subodh Mullick Square in Wellington and an emergency evacuation shaft at Bowbazar were also concerns. The agency has now decided to do away with building the ventilation shaft.
“If the fans at the stations are operated at full pelt, we would not be needing the ventilation shaft,” said the official.
The evacuation shaft is nearing completion. “The cross-passages, evacuation and ventilation shafts were the main challenges in Bowbazar. Now, we have a clear plan for each,” said the official.
Metro rides between Salt Lake Sector V and Howrah Maidan should start from June 2024, the KMRC managing director had said earlier. By end-2023, trains should start running between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade, he had said.
“We are on course to meet both targets,” A.K. Nandi, general manager, administration, KMRC, said on Monday.
