End of the road for Dum Dum-Barasat metro extension

KOLKATA: Work for the Dum Dum-Barasat (via NSC Bose Airport) metro extension has come to a halt as construction giant L&T has pulled out of the 20-km metro corridor project. L&T was unable to get on with the work thanks to encroachment on railway land.

L&T has moved out all major equipment from the project site at Barasat and has closed down two of the three site offices. The lone site office is under locked.

The Dum Dum-Barasat Metro corridor is a Rs 2,397-crore project announced by Mamata Banerjee in the 2010-11 Railway Budget. Of this, provisions were made for Rs 1,500 crore in 2011-12 Budget, part of which was returned unspent. In the last Budget, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi allotted another Rs 1,050 crore for the project.

Since the project was announced, L&T was awarded a contract for a 5.70-km stretch in two parts. A contract for a three-km stretch from Barasat to Hridaypur was awarded on 19 October 2011 and another for the 2.70-km from Hridaypur to Madhyamgram was awarded on 20 February this year. In both cases, the deadline is two years from the date of awarding of contracts.

But after working for a few months, L&T had to stop work completely in May this year due to encroachment on railway land identified for the Metro corridor. The land originally belongs to Eastern Railway and is under encroachment at various places such as near the goods booking office at Barasat station and adjacent to the Barasat stadium. There are 1,884 hutments and shops standing on the encroached plots and despite repeated requests, the owners are not willing to vacate without rehabilitation.

North 24-Parganas DM Sanjay Bansal said, "This is a railway land and the project is also theirs. It is up to them as how to evict the encroachers. It is up to them whatever relocation plan is being discussed... we have nothing to do with it."

This is the way for all projects in Bengal.

Is it any surprise that Bengal is so backward?

Whether it is Mamata or the CPM they have always pampered the vote bank without caring for the development of the state.

We are seeing the result.

When the CPM decided that some work should be done, Mamata opposed and drove out the Tatas.

Now she is running around everywhere, Delhi, Goa everywhere, begging the industrialists to come to Bengal.

But the horse has broken out of the stable.

Now we can only cry.