Joka line’s Espl stn waits for defence ministry nod
Times of India | 7 July 2024
Kolkata: The state PWD has cleared RVNL’s solution to the Esplanade Metro station stalemate. But RVNL can’t begin construction of the Purple line’s terminal station unless the ministry of defence (MoD) gives its nod to the revised proposal.
In May this year, RVNL had proposed shifting BC Roy Market, where the corridor's terminal Esplanade station is supposed to come up.The Army is the custodian of the Maidan, through which around 3km of the 5km underground section of the 14km Purple line will pass. In March, just when the Metro project’s underground section gained momentum, the MoD had refused to allow relocation of the “unauthorized” market to Curzon Park atop the East-West Metro’s Esplanade station.
RVNL had already invited tenders for this relocation. The land where Green line’s Esplanade station stands also belongs to the Army. TOI was unable to contact a ministry official.
Over the last two months, RVNL and contractors L&T have done quite a bit of preparatory work for the Purple line’s terminal station that will have interfaces with the Blue and the Green lines at Esplanade. It has built a new paddock at the Shahid Minar grounds for horses of Kolkata Police’s Mounted Police so that stalls for the B C Roy Market traders can be set up inside the existing Kolkata Mounted Police ground. The site at Kolkata Mounted Police has long been allocated to RVNL for the 300m x 25m Esplanade Metro station. But then, formal approval was needed from MoD to shift the paddock to the Shahid Minar grounds, since this part of the Maidan also belongs to the Army. Earlier this week, the Army’s approval for the Shahid Minar paddock was issued.
“RVNL is waiting for MoD to clear the revised proposal for Esplanade station,” a Railways official said. To this, an Eastern Command official said: “RVNL is supposed to submit a document relevant to the revised proposal.”