West Bengal: Noapara-Dakshineswar Metro link likely by September

KOLKATA: Work for the the Noapara-Dakshineswar Metro link, which was hampered in its last leg because of the lockdown, is now on in full swing. At the state government’s request, Metro Railway is trying to commission the extended service of the current Noapara-Kavi Subhas Metro to Dakshineswar by September this year.
A senior state official said, “We are requesting the Metro authorities to begin the extended service of the north-south line by September, so that commuters can use it in the absence of the Tallah Bridge.” Sources, however, said it could take a bit longer and efforts were on to complete the 4km extended section by the Puja this year.

The corridor would have been thrown open to commuters this month had the work not been hit by the lockdown. Work is now on to complete the 4.2km track-laying and supplying the electrical connection to the ballast-less tracks simultaneously because most of the labourers from Malda, Birbhum, the two Midnapores and the rural areas of Bihar have joined work. They started joining from the beginning of June and are now working on a war-footing to complete the pending 10% of the corridor. “After the construction is over, the electrical cables are installed and the finishing touches given, we should be ready to throw open the section to the public by September,” a senior official in the railways said.
The 57-year-old Tallah Bridge, a key link between Kolkata and northern suburbs, has been pulled down because it was declared unfit to take all the traffic load. It should take at least three years for the new one to come up. Therefore, the 4km-Metro link between Noapara and Dakshineswar, especially Barangar station on the route, will be the commuting link for people travelling from Dunlop, Bonhooghly, Belghoria and beyond.
The corridor has already missed its March 2020 deadline and now the revised July completion date also. “The Baranagar station of the Noapara-Dakshineswar stretch would help commuters since the Tallah Bridge has been dismantled,” the state official said. He said the state was in touch with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), under the railway ministry, which is implementing the project. “RVNL officials said they were hopeful that the Dakshineswar link would be opened by September,” the state official said.