The -off between the between the Railways and the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) over transfer of land at Howrah and Sealdah stations that put the East-West Metro corridor in a limbo for about two years finally ends as the Union Railway Ministry decides to take over the project.
KMRC, a joint venture between the Union urban development ministry and the West Bengal government, is developing the Rs 4,874-crore East-West Metro project that will connect Salt Lake to Howrah.
The developers temporarily needs about 8,000 sq ft each at Howrah and Sealdah stations for a period about two years to start the construction of underground stations there. But the Railways' unwillingness came as a hindrance to the execution of the project as a lot of utilities needed to be shifted to vacate the place.
But, the matter seems to be resolved with Railways itself taking over the project. “Earlier they were not ready to hand over the land. Now, the Railways have agreed. The problem with Howrah is almost sorted out out. For, Sealdah also we are in talks,” Subrata Gupta, managing director, KMRC said.
“We have to pay for the shifting work and also the rent for the period of the construction work . Railways is yet to decide on the payments. As of now about Rs 9 crore and Rs 4.5 crore has been paid to the Railways for Howrah and Sealdah stations,” he said.According to Gupta, the undergound construction work at Howrah likely to start in October, while for Sealdah it will take about another three months. Of the total 13.7 km route of the East West Metro, about 5.7 km will be elevated, while the remaining 8 km will be underground.
There was a whiff of political rivalry in the stand-off between the Railways and the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) in the left regime when Mamata Banerjee was Union Railway Minister. Now, things have changed with Banerjee as the Chief Minister and her loyalist Dinesh Trivaedi in the railway ministry.Meanwhile, Union Railway Ministry has recently decided to take full responsibility for the East-West Metro corridor project. After becoming Chief Minister, initially Banerjee wanted to keep the project with the state. But, finally the cash-trapped state government has decided to hand over the project.
Both the state government and union urban ministry which have 30 per cent and 25 per cent stake in the project, will be handing over their shares to the Railways. The rest of the 45 per cent of the total project cost was taken as loan by KMRC from Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). Two committees are working out modalities for the handing over the project.