Kolkata: The city will soon have a tunnel under river Hooghly to enable vehicles to cross over to Howrah bypassing Kolkata and thereby help in decongesting city roads. The six-lane tunnel will be constructed from Kolkata's Netaji Subhas dock to Shalimar or Botanical Gardens in Howrah. Traveling through this tunnel will be akin to a metro-style vehicular movement. Along with facilitating a hassle-free movement of vehicles, the tunnel will make help in avoiding traffic snarls and save time.
The tunnel will be around 1.5 km long, of which 800 metres will be underneath Hooghly. There is a similar tunnel, Liefkenshoek that runs under river Scheldt in Antwerp port in Belgium. The Kolkata Port Trust, christened as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust will set up the underground tunnel at a cost Rs 2,000 crore. It will be modeled on the two-lane Liefkenshoek tunnel. The port sources said agencies have already been appointed and the detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared. The preliminary work has already been started, a port official said adding that the feasibility test will be conducted after DPR is submitted. The work for digging the tunnel will be started soon, he said. Apart from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust, KMC, KMDA, Railways and National Highways Authority of India will jointly work on the project.
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Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust deputy chairman Samrat Rahi said: "Cars will ply like metro under the Hooghly. We are exploring the options of connecting the tunnel with the Kona Express. The tunnel will play a significant role in reducing vehicular pressure on the second Hooghly Bridge. Containers from various areas come to the port area and this creates a huge traffic congestion. Once the tunnel is constructed, containers will be able to travel from Kolkata to Howrah without affecting the city traffic.
