Lok Sabha Question No. 2995 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-21
Subject: Metro Corridor Project
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Jayanta Kumar Roy, Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2995 TO BE ANSWERED ON DECEMBER 21, 2023

## METRO CORRIDOR PROJECT

[

NO. 2995.          DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY: SHRI RAJU BISTA:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- a) the current status of East -West Metro Corridor between Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake Sector - V;
- b) the details of length of the project and length in km commissioned till date;
- c) the reasons for delay of this project along with the benefits of the Project;
- d) the current status of Howrah Metro Station;
- e) the unique features of East -West Metro Corridor Project;
- f) the other steps being taken by the Government regarding timely completion of this project;
- g) the measures taken by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation to check/ control overcrowding of passengers on the platforms and inside rakes of Kolkata East- West Metro; and
- h) the design features adopted by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation to provide smooth ingress and egress of passengers?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE)

- (a) to (h) Ministry of Railway, the administrative Ministry for the East-West Metro Corridor Project has informed as follows:

The total length of the project is 16.55 km out of which 9.3 km has already been commissioned. The physical work of Howrah Metro station has been completed. It is 4 tier station and one of the deepest Metro station in the country at a depth of 33 m.

The project is being executed in phases:Phase-I

- Phase 1A: Salt Lake Sector V to Salt Lake Stadium (5.3 km) : Commissioned in 14.02.2020.
- Phase 1B: Salt Lake Stadium to Phoolbagan (1.67 km) : commissioned on 05.10.2020.
- Phase  1C:  Phoolbagan  to  Sealdah  [EB  line]  (2.33  Km)  commissioned  on 14.7.2022.

## Phase II

- The construction work is underway between Sealdah [ex] to Howrah Maidan (7.25 km). The overall physical progress of the project is 96%. Since  2014,  there  has  been  substantial  increase  in  fund  allocation  and

commensurate commissioning of East West Metro project  as under:-

| Period   | Average Outlay   | Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 236 crore/year   | -                                               |
| 2014-24  | 754 crore/year   | 3.2 times                                       |

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest  clearance  by officials of forest  department,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities,  statutory clearances from  various  authorities,  geological  and  topographical  conditions  of  area, law  and  order  situation  in  the  area  of  project  site,  number  of  working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions etc. All  these  factors  affect  the  completion  time  of  the  project.  With  above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project(s) expeditiously.

## Major reasons for delay in completion:

- Realignment of route due to traffic blockade at Mahakaran, Land acquisition issue and R&R issue.
- Clearances from ASI for Mahakaran Station
- NOC from Ministry of Defence
- Three incidents of water ingress happed in Bowbazar area causing serious impact on the project completion timeline:
- i. Water ingress causing failure of TBM on 31.08.2019 at Bowbazar.
- ii. Water  ingress  in  Retrieval  shaft  at  Bowbazar  during  construction  of  Base slab on 11.05.2022.
- iii. Water ingress during construction of Cross Passage (CP-2) at Bowbazar on 14.10.2022
- ·

## Steps taken by Govt. for timely completion of the project:

- Sufficient fund allotment
- ·
- Progress of project is being assessed regularly even at highest level.
- ·
- Monitoring of Inter Ministerial Issues related with project
- Monitoring  the  project  issues  (Land  Acquisition, Shifting of infringing utilities,  road  diversion/blockade  etc.)  related  with  State  Govt.  &  other authorities.
- Web based monitoring system like PMG portal
- ·
- Transparent systems

## Benefits of the project:

- This Project is an effort to mitigate ever growing transportation demand in Howrah & Kolkata and its surrounding and it will substantially reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution in Kolkata.
- This new East - West metro line meets with existing North - South metro line at  Esplanade  Metro  having  interchange  facilities  with  upcoming  Joka Esplanade Metro Line at Esplanade as per revised alignment.  Interchange facilities  have been provided at Sealdah and Howrah Station with Eastern Railway as well as Major bus terminal at Esplanade.
- The completion of the new East West Line will promote regional economic growth and improve urban environment by mitigating traffic congestion and air pollution.

## Unique features of this corridor are:

- 1st transportation tunnel under any mighty river in India. It runs below the Hooghly river (520 m).
- Corridor connects major terminals Howrah & Sealdah.
- The  live  feed  of  CCTV  inside  all  the  rakes  is  available  at  the  Operation Control Centre which is also a  unique feature of East West Metro.

## Crowd Management:

Considering  the  PHPDT  and  Peak  Hour  Station  Load,  all  major  metro stations of Kolkata East West Corridor (i.e. Howrah, Esplanade and Sealdah) has  been  planned  accordingly  by  providing  double  discharge  facilities, substantial increase in footprint area, additional entry & exit structure.

However, in case of overcrowding of passenger, Operational measures for crowd control in platforms in event of overcrowding is detailed as under :

- Station staff must monitor directly or as an alternative through the Closed Circuit Television.
- In  case  of  over-crowding  on  the  platforms,  the  sale  of  tickets  shall  be stopped  temporarily  and  regulation  of  passengers  shall  be  enforced  in accordance with special instructions.

## Design:

Stations  of  Kolkata  Metro  Green  Line  (East-West  Corridor)  have  been designed with focus on ease of ingress and egress of passengers. Following are some of the notable design features:

- Stations are provided with at least two entrances from the ground level, and the  entrances  are  strategically  located  to  provide  easy  ingress  from important  catchment  areas  as  well  as  to  distribute  egress  to  crucial destination landmarks.
- Entrances  are  provided  with  wide  staircases  equipped  with  handrails  and guardrails. Escalators are provided in at least one of the entrances.
- Lifts  are  provided  in  at  least  one  entrance  of  each  station  for  universal accessibility.
- Signages are provided at strategic locations throughout the station to guide passengers within the station.
- Platforms are connected to the concourse by wide staircases equipped with handrails and guardrails.
- Escalators are also provided between the concourse and platforms for ease of passenger movement.
- In  each  station,  lifts  are  provided  between  concourse  and  platforms  for universal accessibility.
- At  interchange  stations,  paid  area  to  paid  area  connectivity  is  provided between  stations  of  two  lines  for  ease  of  movement  of  interchange passengers.
- For  seamless  passenger  movement,  subway  connectivity  is  also  being provided at Howrah, Esplanade & Sealdah with existing Railway network.

*****