The Hindu Business Line : Land acquisition woes may delay Metro Rail's Garia project

Kolkata April 11 A delay in the completion of the Tollygunje-Garia extension (8.5 km mainly on elevated tracks) work of Metro Rail, Kolkata is likely owing to land acquisition problems, with the Appellate Authority not available for taking up the appeals arising out of disputes with private land-holders.

The project was sanctioned in 1999-2000, with 6 stations on the route (five elevated and one surface). The outlay for the project, sanctioned by the Railways for 2007-08, is Rs 193.25 crore.

Briefing newspersons here today on the financial performance of Metro Rail for 2006-07, and progress of work achieved so far on the Garia extension, Ms Sudha Chobe, General Manager, Metro Rail, said the overall physical progress on the extension project up to March 31, was to the extent of 85 per cent, with 98 per cent of the substructure work already completed.

She said out of the 1,30,423 sq m of private land, some 50,212 sq m was yet to be acquired, largely due to litigations and non-production of ownership rights documents by the affected persons on the New Garia (terminal station) alignment section.

Non-availability of the Appellate Authority (for disposing of the cases) since October 31, 2006 has also been cited as one of the reasons for the expected delay in completion of work. It is now expected that work on the entire stretch may not be completed before end-2008.

According to Ms Chobe, once the required land is acquired, and the tendering for contracts completed, it may take anything between 15 to 20 months for completion of the work.

On the financials of the extension project, she said during 2006-07, Rs 406.30 crore has been spent on civil engineering works, Rs 33.42 crore on electricals and Rs 1.79 crore on S&T.

The Rs 907.69-crore project is 67 per cent funded by Indian Railways and 33 per cent by the West Bengal Government. The 48.64 per cent (out of the total cost) funds already spent on the project, however, excludes the cost of seven new rakes, costing approximately Rs 200 crore, orders for which have already been placed with ICF, Chennai.

Pointing out that the operating ratio for Metro Rail, Kolkata has improved from 238 per cent in 2005-06 to 221 per cent in 2006-07, despite increase in staff costs and no fare increase since 1998, the GM said there was a strong case for a fare hike. During 2006-07, against a gross working expenditure of Rs 131.83, Metro Rail earnings were at Rs 59.64 crore, up from Rs 52.56 crore in the previous fiscal. Ms Chobe said while the electricity bill came down by 2.08 per cent, the perfect running days (without disruptions on account of bandhs, strikes) improved by 14.70 per cent.

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