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West Bengal Govt unable to Handle expansion -Planners back truncated Metro missionBy djain128, Section Kolkata Metro
The grand East-West metro alignment -- between Rajarhat and New Dasnagar -- has already been hacked. In its place, the planners have come up with a much shorter alignment -- Salt Lake to Ramrajatala -- citing their tired fundcrunch rhetoric.
The West Bengal government seems incapable of handling mammoth projects. A reason why long-term infrastructure plans find their way to the trimming block. According to transport experts, the new alignment saves the state a few thousand crores and is supposed to ensure optimal use. The feasibility report prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation pegged the original East West project cost at around Rs 8,000 crore. The 22.3 km long Rajarhat-New Dasnagar line was to have been a combination of surface and underground track, including a tunnel beneath the Hooghly. But earlier this year, the state finance department turned down the project saying it could not bear the burden of Rs 6,400 crore, which is 80 per cent of the project cost. The Centre had promised to share 20 per cent of the cost, while the remaining 80 per cent would have to be borne by the state.
Refusing to invest heavily for the future, the state planners jumped at the option of funding a shorter route. The new alignment will now stretch from Sector V, Sector II, Central Park, Sector-I, Salt Lake stadium, Sealdah, Bowbazar, Mahakaran (Writers' Building), Howrah station, Kadamtala and Ramrajatala.
The east-west metro will connect the existing northsouth alignment at Central station. JBIC, which has funded the techno-feasibility report of the Ramrajatala-Salt Lake alignment, has also shown interest in the project. However, plans for the futuristic tunnel below the Hooghly has expectedly been buried. Once completed, the integrated metro is expected to attract a huge number of passengers, enhancing its commercial feasibility. The techno feasibility study shows the central Mahakaran section will alone attract 2,85,700 passengers every day by 2013. The state transport department, however, is undecided on several issues, especially construction of the car-shed. The car-shed could either be built at Salt Lake or Ramrajatala. If the car-shed has to be constructed at Ramrajatala, the cost would go up by Rs 300 crore because the route will have to be stretched to accommodate the car shed. Salt Lake too poses a problem. Acquiring high-premium land in Salt Lake is not easy. The only option is Central Park, but it may be difficult getting land from the state urban development department
Source The Times of India dt 06-04-2005 By Krishnendu Bandyopadhya
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