Joka-BBD Bag: Metro tunnel work from Mominpur to Esplanade to begin soon

KOLKATA: The e-tenders for the construction of about five kilometres of Metro tunnel from Mominpur to Esplanade, which is part of the Joka to BBD Bagh Metro route will be completed on February 21 (Tuesday).

This part will have five Metro stations, including Khidirpur, Victoria Memorial, Park Street and Esplanade.

Two big construction companies have submitted bank guarantees for the tender. The Metro authorities hope that many other agencies will also participate in this.

According to the Metro authorities, the organisation that can fulfil all the technical conditions at the lowest cost may get the tender. However, the process of verifying, which is time-consuming, will take about three months.

The officials hope to start the tunnelling process by the middle of this year.

The work on this was stalled for a long time due to the issue of clearance from several organisations relating to land issues.

There was a dispute concerning the usage of a portion of the Defense department’s land beyond Mominpur near Ekbalpur.

A part of the Metro line, Joka to Taratala was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 and the commercial services started on January 2, this year.

The Metro has already set a target to extend the line to Majerhat by October. Efforts are on to complete the construction of the Majerhat Metro station as soon as possible.