Kolkata, Oct 26 West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to seek an early date from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of a much-delayed section of a metro line connecting Kolkata’s south with its east.
Flagging off the new Santragachi-Jaipur Express train virtually, the Vaishnaw said the Beleghata-Sector V section of the New Garia-Sector V metro line was completed after the BJP came to power in West Bengal.
The Railway Ministry will request PM Modi to inaugurate the line as soon as the trial, testing and certification process is complete, he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who attended the event, said, “I request the railway minister to secure a date from PM Modi to inaugurate the Beleghata-Sector V line as soon as possible.”
He said that the construction of the 366-metre viaduct at the Chingrighata crossing in eastern Kolkata had been stalled by the previous TMC dispensation and it could be completed only after his government took over charge.
According to Kolkata Metro officials, with the critical link of the New Garia-Sector V metro line complete, trial runs of trains have started and commercial services are expected by this December.
“Not just Chingrighata, but land allocation and survey work for 60 railway projects for which the Railway Board had given approval were stalled by the previous TMC government, whose only agenda was appeasement, corruption and dynasticism,” Adhikari said.
He said that the work at the Chingrighata crossing, which was stalled for 17 months, was completed in 17 days.
Pointing out that development works have stepped up after the BJP came to power in West Bengal, Adhikari said that the state government facilitated a meeting between the Railway Minister and the district magistrates concerned regarding land allocation for the 60 new projects in July.
He alleged that the previous TMC government had stalled work on the railway’s 500 road overbridges and foot overbridges by not giving the necessary no-objection certificates.
“We gave the NOCs as soon as possible,” he said.
Stating that Rs 4,380 crore was allocated to West Bengal in the railway budgets from 2009 to 2014 during the second UPA government, Adhikari said that in the 2026-27 budget alone, the state got Rs 14,205 crore for rail projects.
Adhikari said that with the development of railways, civil aviation, highway connectivity and inland waterways, the double-engine government will make West Bengal the number one state in the country.
“In two years, West Bengal will be on the path of a developed state as part of a Vikshit Bharat by 2047,” he said.
He urged the business community from Rajasthan to invest in West Bengal.
“This government is ready to reach out with all assistance, from land to law and order, land ceiling to incentivisation; we will provide every support,” the chief minister asserted.
(PTI News)
