Calcutta: The last of the encroachments on the Noapara-Dakshineswar Metro route have been removed, kick-starting construction on Tuesday along a now unrecognisable 250m stretch that used to be a slum until a few months ago.
"The site is available and we have deployed the manpower and machinery necessary to fast-track construction," Rajesh Prasad, executive director of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd in Calcutta, said after work began.
Thirteen piers remain to be built to connect the two completed sections of the 4km Metro link on either side of Rajiv Nagar in Kamarhati Municipality. Railway officials said they were confident of the project being completed in time for trains to run between Noapara and Dakshineswar in September 2019.
The stalemate in the project was broken in mid-February, when the state government helped relocate the last 70 families from Rajiv Nagar to a site around 3km away. The slum had 202 families before the rehabilitation process started.
While most of the families moved to 300sq ft shelters built by the transport department last year, the reluctance of the rest to leave the site had kept the element of uncertainty alive.
The project had been stuck in this 250m land logjam for nearly seven years before the state government made its first attempt to remove the slum.
Bids were invited for the construction of tracks and installation of signalling, telecommunication and electrical equipment the moment the railways became certain that the hurdles were out of the way.
The process of finding contractors had been withheld till the last moment because the implementing agency wasn't sure if the incomplete portion of the viaduct would ever be built.
The change in attitude was visible this week when reinforcement piling started before the construction of piers.
Engineers of the construction company Simplex, which is building the viaduct, are looking at the safety aspects before construction starts between two parallel railway lines.
"We need to build an approach to the site so that girders can be transported there. A railway level crossing is also required," an official said.
Since the site was not available even for inspection until recently, engineering challenges like these could not be assessed and addressed in advance. "There is railway embankment on one side, for which additional safety measures need to be taken," the official said.
Transport minister Subhendu Adhikari on Wednesday iterated the state government's commitment to help remove the hurdles in the way of Metro projects. "We want all Metro projects to happen," he said.
The state government had for years remained aloof from Metro projects like the Noapara-Dakshineswar link.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked chief secretary Malay De during an interactive session on September 27 why Metro projects in Calcutta were mired in uncertainty.
