TRANSPORTS OF DELIGHT: The road through Rajarhat. A Telegraph picture

Picture this: a tube ride from Howrah?s Ramrajatala to the heart of Rajarhat New Town, a cosy ride on an aero-dynamic bus, a cruise down Keshtopur canal, all in a single day.

The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government plans to operate these modes of modern transport in its new showpiece, the 3,000-hectare Rajarhat township.

The Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) is putting final touches to the proposed transport infrastructure of New Town, complete with Metro stations, long-distance bus terminals, bus stops and parking lots for private vehicles.

?New Town will have all the transport facilities that a modern township should have and we have finalised the plans. The transport system will be eco-friendly,? elaborated Goutam Deb, housing development minister.

?Already, four points have been identified for setting up Metro stations. Each of the action areas will have a tube rail station,? Deb informed.

The terminal station will be at the Central Business District, the heart of the township. Earlier this month, senior officials of the Delhi Metro met chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and gave a presentation on the East-West Metro project.

Alignments of the tube rail routes in the township have been finalised after prolonged talks with the Japanese Bank for Industrial Cooperation and other Japanese firms working for the development of transport infrastructure in Calcutta.

Adjacent to the tube railtunnel will run the tracks of the light rail, a project to be taken up in future.

For road transport, Hidco officials said space for six bus terminals have been identified. Three terminals for long-distance buses and as many for city buses are being planned.

?There will be a long-distance and a city bus terminal in each of the action areas,? said Sumanta Chowdhury, Hidco managing director. ?We are planning to set up the terminals through self-financing schemes. Details are being worked out,? he added.

According to Chowdhury, the bus terminals and tube rail stations will be linked by road transport for convenience of the residents.

Officials said they are planning a wide network of public bus services. ?The buses plying in New Town will have aero-dynamic bodies. Their look will be slick, unlike the ones we are used to seeing in our city,? a Hidco official explained. Separate bus bays will be created to ensure smooth movement of vehicles.

Besides, the planners are considering navigation along Keshtopur canal.

Work on the proposed 43-km North Calcutta Canal System ? linking the Hooghly with Kulti Gang ? is likely to start soon, an official said.

According to the plans, passenger-cum-freight terminals will be set up at Chitpur, near RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Ultadanga, Keshtopur, Rajarhat, Bhangar and Kulti Gang.

The system comprises the Circular Canal from Chitpur to Ghaznavi Bridge (1.5 km), the New Cut Canal from Ghaznavi Bridge to Ultadanga (two km), the Keshtopur canal from Ultadanga to Tarulia (16.5 km) and the Bhangar Kata Khal from Tarulia to Kulti (2.3 km).

Hidco officials said they have allotted Rs 8 crore for dredging the Keshtopur Canal. ?We want to make the canal convenient for navigation,? an official said. Work is to end by June 2005.