Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, March 6, will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various projects worth ₹15,400 crore in Kolkata as part of his 10-day visit to 12 states and union territories (UTs). This will be his second visit to West Bengal within five days.
PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor, signalling India’s first venture into underwater Metro services. According to an official release, the 4.8-km stretch of the East-West Metro has been built at a cost of ₹4,965 crore and will have the deepest Metro station in India at Howrah – 30 metres below the ground level. The corridor will help connect key areas such as the IT hub Salt Lake Sector V.
The metro tunnel is a remarkable feat of engineering that spans a distance of 16.6 kilometers beneath the Hooghly River.
The underwater metro will connect Kolkata’s twin cities, Howrah and Salt Lake, and will have six stations, three of which are underground.
According to the Central Railways, while the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor will be inaugurated today, the passenger services will begin at a later date.
The PM will also flag off other train services during his visit to Kolkata focusing on enhancing avenues for ensuring ease of urban mobility. These include – the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and the Taratala-Majerhat Metro sections.
Apart from these, PM Modi will also dedicate to the nation Pune Metro from Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi stretch; Kochi Metro Rail Phase I Extension project (Phase IB) from SN Junction Metro station to Tripunithura Metro station; Agra Metro’s stretch from Taj East Gate to Mankameshwar; and Duhai-Modinagar (North) section of Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor.
Later in the afternoon, PM Modi is also expected to address a public rally at Barasat in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, where Sandeshkhali is situated.
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