Context:
Prime Minister recently inaugurated a metro train service between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade in Kolkata, marking the opening of India’s first under-river metro tunnel.
Relevance:
GS III: Infrastructure
Dimensions of the Article:
- About India’s First Under-River Metro Tunnel
- Key Facts about River Hooghly
India’s First Under-River Metro Tunnel: Connecting Kolkata’s East-West Corridor
- Integral part of Kolkata Metro’s East-West Corridor.
- Passes beneath the Hooghly River in the city’s northeast.
- Tunnel is positioned 13 meters below the riverbed and 37 meters below ground level.
- Constitutes a 4.8 km underground section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade.
- Project cost amounts to Rs 4,965 crore.
Additional Features:
- Houses the country’s deepest metro station, Howrah Maidan, located 32 meters below ground level.
- Expected to traverse the 520-meter stretch under the Hooghly River in just 45 seconds.
Key Facts about River Hooghly:
- Also known as Bhagirathi-Hoogly and Kati-Ganga Rivers.
- A Ganges distributary, stretching approximately 260 km.
- Originates in Murshidabad, West Bengal, where the Ganga divides into the Padma in Bangladesh and the Hooghly.
- Silted up above Kolkata, the river flows southwest to enter the Bay of Bengal through a wide estuary.
- Majority of water sourced from the Farakka Feeder Canal, thanks to the Farakka Barrage.
- Fed by rivers like Haldi, Ajay, Damodar, and Rupnarayan in the lower reaches.
- Important cities along the Hoogli include Jiaganj, Azimganj, Murshidabad, and Baharampur.
- Spanned by notable bridges like the cantilever bridge between Haora and Kolkata and the Bally Bridge between Bally and Baranagar.
-Source: The Hindu
