KOLKATA: The city has much to hope for when Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi comes to India later this month. He may have the key to solving Kolkata's traffic chaos that is fast spiralling out of control.

The proposed Rs 2385-crore Elevated Mass Rapid Transit System (EMRTS) for Kolkata is among the high visibility projects that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will put on Koizumi's platter. Top officials of the state transport de par tment met the bosses of the ministry of urban development earlier this week to push their case for Japanese assistance under the STEP loan.

"The ERTS covers 32.3 km of the proposed 95 km integrated mass rapid transit system in Kolkata, connecting the central business hub with different corners of the city," said state transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury.

The transport department feels it makes more financial sense to go for ERTS. The 22.3 km east-west metro corridor, being constructed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, is expected to cost Rs 6,000 crore, whereas the 32.3 km EMRTS will cost only Rs 2,385 crore, sources said.

In its submission before the urban development ministry, the transport department clarified that the EMRTS proposal has only 3.6 km in common ( Salt Lake to EM Bypass along east-west stretch, with the DMRC's east west metro corridor proposal). It was suggested that if the state gave its approval for the east-west metro corridor, the 3.6 km stretch could be truncated from the EMRTS proposal. It will provide connectivity between Howrah and Sealdah.

"The metro corridor from Dum Dum to Tollygunge and then to Garia (24 km) is on a different alignment.

The EMRTS project is a supplement to the existing metro link," Chowdhury explained. The EMRTS would provide much-needed connectivity between Howrah and Sealdah — two of the busiest areas around the city — and also supplement the existing 12 km suburban circular railway system, which runs along the western periphery of the city.

The state government has urged the Union urban development ministry to consider the proposal and recommend it to the department of economic affairs.

Source: Times of India