New Delhi: The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of the Kolkata Metro Railway, which is being hailed as the first transit tunnel "under any mighty river in India," will be officially opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, a government release stated on Sunday.

The PM will also launch in Kolkata the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and the Taratala-Majerhat metro sections, “with a focus on enhancing avenues for ensuring ease of urban mobility”, it said.

Modi is likely to visit Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar from March 4-6, the release said.

The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section (East West Metro corridor) has the first transportation tunnel under “any mighty river in India”, said the release.

It passes under the River Hooghly, on the east and west banks of which are situated Kolkata and Howrah cities, respectively.

Kolkata Metro created history in April 2023, when its rake ran through a tunnel under a river, the Hooghly, for the first time in the country.

Modi will also launch the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay metro section of the Kavi Subhash-Airport line and the Taratala-Majerhat section, which is a part of the Joka-Esplanade line, the release said.

The Howrah metro station is also the deepest metro station in India.

The 4.8-km stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade is the second section of the East West Metro corridor between Howrah Maidan and IT hub Salt Lake Sector V.

The Esplanade-Sealdah stretch of the East West alignment is awaiting completion.

Metro Railway General Manager P Uday Kumar Reddy had earlier said it is targeting June-July this year to start commercial operation in the entire route of East West alignment.

Completion of the project has suffered delays owing to an aquifer burst at Bowbazar in central Kolkata on August 31, 2019, leading to severe ground subsidence, and the collapse of a number of buildings there and two more water leakage incidents at the same site in 2022 during tunneling and construction work.

The Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah stretch of the East-West Metro corridor is commercially operational at present.

Out of the total 16.6 km length of the East West Metro, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah Maidan and Phoolbagan, with the tunnel under the Hooghly river. The rest of the stretch is elevated corridor.

The release said that the Majerhat metro station, on the Taratala-Majerhat section, is a unique elevated metro station across railway lines and platforms.

Metro services on the 6.5 km stretch between Joka and Taratala of the Joka-Esplanade project are already operational. 

(With inputs from PTI)