KOLKATA: Residents of the 40 shanties on Jessore Road, which were shifted on Feb 27, were taken to a spot opposite the Jessop factory, where another 137 households have been shifted over the last one year or so.
Even as Metro Railway had announced during last year's Budget that a truncated stretch of the 16km Noapara-Barasat Metro corridor, between Noapara and the airport, would be operational in December 2023, there were more than 100 encroachments between Jessore Road and Dum Dum Cantonment stations.The encroachments were mostly shops under the elevated Circular Railway tracks.
"The last of these stalls were removed on Feb 27," an official said, adding, "After the stalls were removed, we started work on demolishing the elevated corridor and girder-launching in the Dum Dum Cantonment-Jessore Road section."
The Metro line goes underground from Jessore Road to the airport because of AAI regulations. The Metro viaduct is being built after razing the elevated (and now defunct) Circular Railway tracks. The piers of the tracks are being used in the Yellow Line's elevated section.
The shanties and shops under Circular Railway tracks have delayed the project for nearly a decade. "But all encroachments have been cleared now. Initially, there were 177 illegal structures. State has helped to clear them in phases," an official said.