The inauguration last December of a
beautifully landscaped on-riverfront Millennium Park, bang in the
central business district, was indicative of growing corporate
citizenship in Kolkata’s slow-but-finally-happening efforts at
changing its face. Part of a very ambitious plan to beautify the
entire stretch along the revered river Ganges in line with the
Thames Project, it will make every commuter’s ride on the Railway, a
refreshingly relaxing one.
Approximately 15 million people
to-day live within Calcutta Metropoli-tan District’s 1380 square
kilome-tre expanse. While in most modern cities, the road surface
area relative to the total area is around 30 percent, here it is
barely 4.2 percent, way below even the national average. With
unplanned urban growth, this meagre network of roads falls far short
of requirements. Also upkeep of these roads has traditionally been
very poor. Combined with an uncontrolled mix of incompatible forms
of traffic and the menace of hawkers — who continue to occupy
pavements and even parts of road under political patronage —
transport remains slow, crowded and dangerous.
Insightful planners had, as early as in 1947, explored the
possibility of utilising the oval-shaped railway tracks that girdle
the city by linking them to form a Circular Railway. The idea was
first looked into by the Ginwala Committee, which recommended a
surface railway from Dum Dum, on the north-Sealdah section up to
Chitpur (used as a goods yard), elevated tracks from Chitpur to
Majerhat over Calcutta Port Trust’s existing lines parallel to the
river, and surface railway again from Majerhat to Dum Dum along
Eastern Railway’s Budge Budge lines via Kankurgachi Chord connector
between Sealdah’s north and south divisions. Various committees that
followed until the Garbutt Report of 1966, supported the idea in
many forms (often with elevated tracks), incurring lower expenses
and easier construction, in addition to a straight north-south
corridor for better results. Finally, a comprehensive study of the
city’s transportation needs made by Metropolitan Transport Project
(Railways) in 1969 suggested a suburban dispersal line from Dum Dum
to Princep Ghat following the existing alignment mentioned above but
entirely on elevated tracks. However, the proposal was categorically
dismissed by Soviet consultants, M/s Technoexport with the
concurrence of the Government as quite unnecessary, only adding to
the crowding problem in the central business district. Consequently,
despite the North-south Rapid Transit Metro Project getting
sanctioned in 1972, the circular railway concept was finally
accepted by the Government only in 1984 — the year metro’s initial
truncated services actually came into operation once it was clear
that the full completion of the metro would fall way behind schedule
and demand.
Although Parliament voted in 1984 on a Rs 75.36 crore estimate
(later revised to Rs 86.11 crore) for this four-and-a-half year
project broken into four phases, only the first two (6.95 kilometre
Baghbazar-Princep Ghat and six-kilometre Baghbazar-Dum Dum) sections
got completed by June 1990 incurring a cost of Rs 35 crore based on
an initial estimate of Rs 21.69 crore. Of which, Rs seven crore was
paid to the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) for outright transfer of 17
acres of land with existing tracks. Since then, it has existed as a
12.95 kilometre-long single broad-gauge line operating only nine
pairs of daily trains on diesel traction with 10 conventional
second-class coaches each. And eight stations in between terminal
ones at Dum Dum Junction and Princep Ghat.
Nearly a decade of neglect by succes-sive railway ministries
(between 1994 and 1998, only Rs 93 lakh were allocated for the
project) unfortunately compelled a truncated line — restricted by
the hours of service, slow speeds due as much to weak track and
signalling systems as to squatters along tracks, lack of adequate
road overbridges and pedestrian underpasses at various crossings —
to remain as an incomplete and thereby inefficient loop.
In 1998, a change of guard at the Centre got things going again.
RITES submitted a techno-economic feasibility report on the
much-delayed extension from Princep Ghat to Majerhat (phase III of
the original schedule) under existing traction, signalling,
telecommunication and train operation systems. The report estimated
a cost of around Rs 81.44 crore against an initial expenditure of Rs
nine crore only. And in 1999, the estimated cost on doubling and
electrification of the line for the entire stretch of 18.29
kilometres between Dum Dum and Majerhat was Rs 150.06 crore spread
over four years against the earlier amount of Rs 55.42 crore for
phase IV in the original plan. This will finally allow all suburban
trains with EMU rakes from both north and south Sealdah divisions to
serve the city directly by encircling it in (counter) clockwise
directions.
Funds too became increasingly
available, a total of Rs 95 crore already allocated for the period
1998-2002. However, the figure of Rs 33 crore going to CPT as rental
for 90 years’ lease on the 15 acres needed additionally for the
extension along with simultaneous electrification in the southern
end is now expected to rise to Rs 102 crore by the expected time of
project completion — June 2003. The project will involve setting up
of four new stations (elevated structure for the Khiderpore one
within the ‘custom bonded’ area of CPT docks), closing down of
Princep Ghat Station and integration at Majerhat with the Eastern
Railway’s main section.
Equally happening is the work on the later-added extension in the
northern end from Dum Dum Junction via Dum Dum Cantonment Station
across Jessore Road to a terminal only 150 meters from and parallel
to the international and domestic buildings of Calcutta’s Netaji
Subhas Airport. This section (expected to complete in August 2003),
budgeted at Rs 62 crore is likely to end up another Rs 10 crore more
due to increasing land acquisition costs. Also partly elevated, it
makes clever use of existing but not-in-use-now railway lines, and
is certain to make the system very popular.
Electrification of the Dum Dum/Princep Ghat Section too is going
on full swing (cost Rs. 15 crore and expected to complete by June
2001). In addition to lengthening of platforms to 275 meters and
setting up of ‘height gauges’ for vehicular clearance, it will
enable EMU rakes of 12 coaches each to do the entire loop from
airport to airport, even on a single line. While doubling of tracks
isn’t on anyone’s mind right now, it bears mention that despite
provision for the same being made in all extensions, the need for
additional space along tracks in the existing section (after removal
of squatters) may prove a delaying bone of contention with CPT and
the state once again in future.
Completion of the Circular Railway in its entirety in tandem with
extension of the Metro further south to Garia by 2004 will provide
this beleaguered city a transportation network, capable of handling
the pressures of a rapidly burgeoning population, both within the
city limits and beyond, for decades to come.
Completion of Circular Railway in its entirety along with
extension of the Metro further south to Garia will provide the
much-needed transportation network to Kolkata.
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