Kolkata to get country's first underwater Metro Rail service

Kolkata which witnessed the first metro train in the country is now set to create another history. The East-West Metro project will now connect the twin city of Kolkata and Howrah which are divided by river Ganga.

Two tunnels of 520 metres are constructed under the mighty river to connect the twin cities. Metro trains are expected to run at the speed of 80 km/hr through these tunnels. Engineers have claimed that there will be no issue of leakage as the tunnel below the river bed is passing through very hard soil. The tunnel has been made in accordance with seismic zone 4 norms; thus, no effect of the earthquake will be felt in case of one. "This is India's first underwater river tunnel. A lot of things had to be kept in mind to build it — that includes immense pressure of water in Ganga,' said Biswanath Dewanji, chief engineer of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation.

With this, Kolkata Metro will have the deepest metro station in India. The work on East-West metro to connect Howrah and Sealdah is likely to be completed in 2021.

Zee Media Newsroom