Special light effects and paintings of fishes adorning India's first underwater metro tunnel in Kolkata gave a realistic feeling to riders of the inaugural trip below the Hooghly River as they peered through the train's windows, with a few hoping to see actual aquatic life.
On Wednesday, March 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kolkata metro's Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section that passes under the river and took a ride on the inaugural train while interacting with more than 200 school children and a few construction workers accompanying him.
When the driver of the train announced that it was entering the river part of the tunnel, the riders looked through the windows out of curiosity and were exhilarated by the view outside. "The paintings of fishes and the lights have been done so beautifully that for a moment I thought it was real. The experience was awesome," said Piyush, a student of Alipore Kendriya Vidyalaya said.
Supreet Kaur, a teacher from the same school said that several students made paintings reflecting the cultural and heritage aspects of Kolkata and brought these to this trip to show their love for the city, as stated in a report by PTI.
Another school student, Bandish Mukherjee, said, "I was excited for this ride because I read that Howrah metro station is the deepest in the country. This trip will be a memorable one for me."
Underwater metro
Two tunnels, running parallel to each other, are part of the 4.8-km Esplanade-Howrah Maidan stretch of the East-West Corridor and pass under the Hooghly River, connecting Kolkata and Howrah. The stretch also has the deepest metro station in the country, the Howrah Maidan station at 32 metres below the ground.
The tunnels, at a depth of 37 meters below the river, are engineering marvels due to their depth, curvature, design and uncertain nature of the under-river soil.
