NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday shared a nostalgia-loaded post talking about her days as the Railways minister of India when she planned the Kolkata Metro project. The post shared on X came hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state.She went on to share her journey from planning to execution and termed it an “additional privilege”. “Allow me to be a little nostalgic today. As the Railways minister of India, I was fortunate in planning and sanctioning series of Metro Railway corridors in metropolitan Kolkata. I had drawn the blueprints, arranged the funds, initiated the works and ensured that the different ends of the city ( Joka, Garia, Airport, Sector V, etc) were connected by an intra- city Metro grid,” she said.
“Later, as the chief minister of West Bengal, I had the additional privilege of taking part in execution of the projects. From the State, I arranged free land, paved roads, arranged rehabilitation of displaced people, removed impediments, and ensured all help in the execution of projects. Our chief secretaries successively held series of coordination meeting to ensure integration of execution agencies. My planning as Railways minister got fulfilment in my participation in execution,” she added. She ended her post saying, “Expanding Metro infrastructure has been a long journey for me. Allow me some nostalgia today.” The timing of Mamata’s post is significant as PM Modi is set to inaugurate projects in a move to expand Kolkata’s metro network.The three new stretches include Sealdah to Esplanade (Green Line, 2.6 km), Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar (Yellow Line, 6.77 km), and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay to Beleghata (Orange Line, 4.39 km).
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