Calcutta HC clears Maidan metro tunnel after Army nod

KOLKATA: The much-awaited green light has come for the Joka-Esplanade Metro corridor with the Army on Friday informing a Calcutta High Court division bench that it has no objection to tracks being laid below Maidan and underground tunnelling through its land.

The 14.4km corridor – or Kolkata’s Line 3 – is elevated from Joka to Mominpur. The 5.6km Mominpore-Esplanade section is underground. The project, approved in 2010, could only be executed till Mominpore since the Army is the custodian of most of the 5km underground stretch that will pass through the Maidan.

It has been the main problem spot for the project, stalling it for so long and making the corridor miss several deadlines since 2016.