Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday unveiled and laid the foundation stone for various metro projects worth Rs 15,400 crore, including the Kolkata Metro's underwater connection linking the city to Howrah under the Hooghly River.
After the inauguration programme, Modi took a metro ride from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan (East-West linking of the city) along with school children. He also interacted with the students during the journey.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose, BJP; state president Sukanta Majumdar, and opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari were also present.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was also invited by the Kolkata Metro Railway but has preoccupied elsewhere, an official said.
Kolkata Metro's East-West corridor, marked India's Metro under the river. The 4.8-km stretch of the East-West Metro has been built at a cost of Rs 4,965 crore and will have the deepest Metro station in India at Howrah, 30 meters below ground level.
The corridor will help connect key areas, such as the IT hub in Salt Lake Sector V.
The commercial operation was not yet decided, an official said.
Modi also flagged off other train services from Esplanade, expanding the East-West corridor, which will criss-cross the city and its outskirts to ease travelling this over 300-year-old city, once the capital of British India.
Previously, the Metro Railway was operating, carrying lakhs of commuters from the north east of New Garia station to Dakshineswar in the north.
The east-west corridor includes the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and the Taratala-Majerhat Metro sections.
PM Modi also unveiled the 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 the Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor.
