PM Modi to inaugurate three Kolkata metro projects on August 22; Railway Minister invites West Bengal CM.
With this launch, the Green Line will be fully operational, and the Kolkata airport will finally receive a metro connection.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has invited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the inauguration of three metro projects in Kolkata on August 22.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to inaugurate the Sealdah–Esplanade stretch of the Green Line, the Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Ruby Crossing)–Beleghata segment of the Orange Line, and the Noapara–Jai Hind Bimanbandar (airport) section of the Yellow Line.
“We kindly invite you to grace the occasion at the Jessore Road metro station for the programme,” Vaishnaw wrote in a letter dated August 14.
The chief minister or the state government has not yet confirmed her attendance. However, the Trinamool Congress criticised the timing of the event, alleging that the long-pending projects were being inaugurated with an eye on the upcoming assembly elections.
The state BJP rejected the allegation and instead blamed the state government for the delays in completing several metro projects.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya stated, “Forty-three railway projects in Bengal, including the East-West Metro (Green Line), have been delayed due to land acquisition issues and lack of cooperation from the state government.” He added that construction of the Orange Line at Chingrighata had been stalled for a long time for the same reasons, delaying its connection to Salt Lake Sector 5.
Bhattacharya said that the chief minister’s presence at the inauguration “would be welcome.”
Once inaugurated, the Green Line—billed as India’s first underwater metro—will become fully operational, linking Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector 5. The Kolkata airport will also receive a dedicated metro link with the opening of the Yellow Line stretch.
