Kolkata: RVNL has started construction of the Purple Line's Esplanade Metro station on the land available with it. It will be the third underground metro station in Esplanade. Two other corridors — North-South (Blue) and East-West (Green) — also have underground stations at Esplanade. The third and last one — for the Joka-Esplanade corridor or Purple Line — will complete the much-awaited metro hub at the central business district.
TOI on Friday reported that the Purple Line now has clearance from the defence ministry to shift BC Roy Market to make way for the terminal Esplanade station. Most of the station box (300mX40m) will come up on the site where BC Roy Market now stands. Before the site is cleared, implementing agency RVNL has started building one corner of the box at the Kolkata Police paddock site. "The diaphragm or D-wall casting has started after excavation. Around 90m of the D-wall will be built at this location. The D-wall isolates the under-construction structure from the surrounding soil and groundwater to allow safe excavation and construction," a Railways engineer said.
As per RVNL's revised plans, the Esplanade station, which will have passenger interfaces with Green and Blue lines, will be built in phases and not at one go. "After completing the ongoing phase, temporary structures for the 528 traders of BC Roy Market will be built. Once they are shifted, the existing market would be razed and the work on the main station area begin," the official added.
"The city will now get its third underground station at Esplanade," a Metro official said. The second, one of the 12 dotting East-West Metro or Green line, was launched on March 15 this year. The first, emerging as a crucial interchange for Green and Blue (North-South Metro) lines, was launched in Oct 1984 when India's first metro system was commissioned between Esplanade and Bhowanipore.