In what comes as a major relief to the residents of Kidderpore, the land hurdle that had obstructed the remaining leg of the Purple Line has been removed. The Kolkata Metro Railway has received a nod from the state government that has paved the way for the project between Mominpore and Esplanade.
The clearance from the state authorities has come in the form of a letter issued by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation yesterday. According to sources, the state authorities have stated a few conditions in the letter reiterating that the police barracks and washing unit popularly known as the Dhobi Lines inside the existing Police Lines should be kept unaffected during the construction of the metro network. The state authorities, however, have agreed to temporarily shift utilities as per the requirement of the project.
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Earlier, the Purple Line project between Mominpore and Esplanade was obstructed when the state government refused to allow part of land at Bodyguard Lines to the Metro railway. After a few rounds of unsuccessful meetings, the Metro Railway authorities then decided to proceed with the project without a metro station at Kidderpore. The Kolkata Metro Railway also wrote a letter to the state chief secretary informing the state government about the decision of skipping the Metro station at Kidderpore.
After the letter by KMC issued yesterday, the Metro authorities heaved a sigh of relief. According to official sources, the conditions stated by the KMC would not affect the proposed plan. The work at this point is to kick off with shifting of the utilities. “To enable the construction, the Dhobi Lines need to be relocated temporarily,” informed an official source. “The KMC has recommended and identified the space for shifting the Dhobi Lines temporarily. The RVNL is okay with the recommended space. Work in the stretch is already being carried out and with the clearance from the state government, work at Bodyguard Police Lines is being targeted to start next month,” he added.