Kolkata Metro
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Suicides
2014, 2015
The Times of India Aug 23 2015
Monotosh Chakraborty
Kolkata Metro sees drop in cases in 2015 As opposed to suicides going up in Delhi Metro, Kolkata Metro has seen a reverse trend. Officials said 11 people have attempted suicide on India's oldest Metro network so far this year as compared to 20 in 2014. Four people lost their lives but authorities say the number is far lower than 2014, that is 14.
Officials of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation said the decrease in suicide attempts can be attributed to several preventive measures being taken by authorities. Metro officials not only closely monitor passengers using CCTV cameras but also patrol platforms in a bid to keep passengers from jumping before trains.
“Four RPF officers patrol platforms before trains arrive. No passenger is allowed to cross the yellow line on the platform during that time,“ said an official. If we find that a passenger is very close to the edge, we switch off the power line to the third rail, an official added.
People with suicidal tendencies usually show some signs before committing the act. “Some indicators can be spotted while monitoring passengers on CCTVs. After we rescue the passenger, we try talking to himher to find out what the problem is,“ said Rabi Mahapatra, spokesman, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation.
But despite the vigil, some people still slip through. “I remember one such case. A man was reading a newspaper on the platform. Just as the train was entering the station, he dumped the newspaper and p jumped on the tracks,“ said e Mahapatra.
Metro officials feel that counselling by NGOs has als so helped bring down the suie cide rate at stations. NGO d Lifeline Foundation has been operating two helplines for Metro commuters for over 10 years. “Instead of advising, we try to befriend the caller. We don't judge and ask callers to tell us more about themselves which helps calm them down,“ said Amitabha Ray , deputy director, Lifeline Foundation.
A study of suicide attempts at stations showed that most people were below 45 years of age.
Metro authorities have ruled out the possibility of setting up glass screen doors on platforms, as is the norm abroad, to help prevent suicides. “We have introduced several video programmes and short films on suicide to raise awareness among commuters,“ said a Metro official.
India's first "underwater metro tunnel"
India's first underwater metro tunnel completed, Jun 23, 2017: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
The tunnel is a crucial link for the 16.4 km-long mass rapid transport project being constructed by the Kolkata Metro at an estimated cost of around Rs 9,000 crore.
The operation of the East-West Metro Corridor in the first phase between Salt lake and Phoolbagan in the city will start next year.
Tunnelling from the Howrah end started in the last week of April and reached the Kolkata end on June 20. (TOI photo)Tunnelling from the Howrah end started in the last week of April and reached the Kolkata end on June 20.
The tunnelling work under the Hooghly river, the first such underwater project in the country, to provide metro connectivity between Howrah and Kolkata has been completed.
The tunnel is a crucial link for the 16.4 km-long mass rapid transport (MRT) project being constructed by the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) at an estimated cost of around Rs 9,000 crore.
"India has joined a select band of nations. Another rare feat achieved by Kolkata after getting the first metro railway in the country in 1984.
"The KMRC team, including engineers from abroad, has completed the construction of India's first underwater tunnel under the Hooghly river," Satish Kumar, the MD of KMRC, said.
He said tunnelling from the Howrah end started in the last week of April and reached the Kolkata end on June 20.
Two tunnels, for onward and return journeys, have been bored 13 metre beneath the riverbed and 30 metre from the ground. The operation of the East-West Metro Corridor in the first phase between Salt lake and Phoolbagan in the city will start next year. The first rake, built by BEML, will arrive in December this year, Kumar said.
KMRC has got all the necessary clearances from different agencies. Work on construction of the Esplanade station in the city's central business district has already started, Kumar said.
He said the operational headway for the full phase would be 2.5 minutes which is enough to handle the passenger load, particularly at Sealdah and Howrah metro stations.
New corridors
2017: tardy progress
The Indian Railways is unhappy with the pace of work in Kolkata Metro which is reflected in the average fund allocation of just around Rs 400 crore every year for the last three years.
The anticipated cost of 64 km of the new Metro corridor was around Rs 8,639 crore, but the total spending on the project to date is only Rs 2,018 crore in the last seven years that is mere Rs 288 crore a year. A top railway ministry source said with the current pace of spending and execution, it will take another 17 years for the project to be completed.
The corridor, announced in the Rail Budget 2010-11 by then railway minister Mamata Baneerjee, was imposed on the national transporter. Under pressure from the top, the railways entrusted the task to PSU--Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which had no experience of Metro construction. The corridors include Baranagar-Barrackpore & Dakshineshwar (14.5km), Dum Dum airportNew Garia via Rajarhat (32 km) and Joka-BBD Bagh via Majer hat (16.72km). A railway official said, “On an average only Rs 400 crore is being allocated every year and considering the current trend the Kolkata Metro will take another 17 years to complete the project with balance cost of around Rs 6,621crore.“
He said, “The physical progress is very disappointing.“
Out of six Metro corridors, work hasn't started on Baranagar-Barrackpore and the status of the other five corridors too is no better where physical progress is ranging bteween 12% to 37%, an official said.
Despite reservations from many in the rail bureaucracy , the projects were handed over to RVNL ignoring vehement protest by Kolkata Metro, also an arm of the Indian Railways which built the first Metro in Kolkata and is also operating them successfully . Top mandarins in Rail Bhawan are upset with the slow pace of work as the doubts expressed at time of handing over work to RVNL are coming true after six years.
Officials fear the poor pace of execution will lead to time overruns and cost overruns, causing a big hole in strained finances of the railways.
