• The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) is constructing an underwater metro tunnel under the Hooghly river in the city of Kolkata.
• The metro will connect Howrah and Kolkata and is expected to be completed by December 2023.
Expected completion date of India’s first underwater metro
• According to KMRC (Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation) India’s first underwater metro service, the East-West Metro Corridor project is expected to be completed by December 2023.
• Shailesh Kumar, General Manager of Civil KMRC said, “The ongoing underwater tunnel project is likely to be completed by December 2023.
• “Some refurbishing works are in process and other issues are delaying the accomplishment of the underwater metro project.”
• “We have taken foreign experts in tunneling projects, currently we are using machines from abroad (German) to make the difficult task easier,” the KMRC official told ANI.
Quick overview of India’s first underwater metro
• The ongoing underwater metro project is a part of the East-West Metro Tunnel of Kolkata Metro in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• The underwater river tunnel is constructed underneath the Hooghly River.
• After the CESC Tunnel in 1931, this is the second underwater river tunnel of the Hooghly River.
• The CESC (Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation) is used for electric power transmission from Kolkata Howrah. • This tunnel was not built by modern tunnel boring machines. It was built with simple tools like spades, shovels etc.
• Also, the underwater tunnel is the first underwater river tunnel in South Asia and as well as India.
• The East-West Metro Tunnel length is 10.8 km (6.7 mi) and its width is 5.5 meters (18 ft).
• Total length of the metro track under Hooghly river: 520m
• The height of the roof of the tunnel from the ground level is: 30 meters
• The tunnel is constructed by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation.
• Total cost of this underwater metro project: Rs 8000 crores.
• Tunnelling of the East-West Metro project completed in 2021.
Underwater metro in Kolkata route
• This underwater metro project will connect Howrah with Sealdah when completed.
• The metro line connecting Howrah and Sealdah will reduce the travel time between the two points to 40 minutes from the current 90 minutes taken by road.
• Metro trains that will use the underwater tunnel will take just 45 seconds to cross the 520m tunnel.
Read Also: Joka-Taratala Metro: Fare, Time, Schedule, Station
Metro Rail System in India
• India’s first metro rail opened in Kolkata, West Bengal on 24 October 1984.
• India’s first metro Kolkata Metro started its operation between Dum Dam to Tollygunge.
• The Delhi Metro Rail is the largest and busiest metro network in India, managed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
• With a length of 6 km, the Ahmedabad metro is the smallest metro in India.
• A total of 15 cities in India are currently covered by metro rail services, namely Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Kochi Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, and Pune.
First Underwater Metro Web-Stories
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Answer: Kolkata
Answer: December 2023
Answer: 24 October 1984
Answer: 520 Km
Answer: Delhi Metro
