Army gives nod for bus stand shift to Curzon Park for Purple Line stn work
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Kolkata: The defence ministry has given the green signal to shift the Esplanade bus stand, popularly known as the L20 stand, to Curzon Park, paving the way for the construction of the Joka-Eden Gardens Metro corridor.
From its current location, the bus stand will be temporarily relocated to a space behind the East-West Metro's Esplanade station at Curzon Park, covering 3,224 sq m, nearly 1,000 sq m more than the 2,311 sq m patch, which was earlier selected at the Dufferin Road-RR Avenue crossing.
The permission to move the bus stand out of the Purple Line's working zone at Esplanade gives implementing agency RVNL more construction room and allows it to go ahead with its original plans.
The station construction layout at Esplanade was changed when the Army had withheld the permission to relocate the Esplanade bus stand to Curzon Park and Kolkata Police found the smaller option opposite Dufferin Road for the new L20 bus stand.
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The Esplanade sanction coincided with the RVNL clearing the Kidderpore station hurdle as the state issued an NOC for land use at Alipore Bodyguard Lines on Thursday. For the working permission in Curzon Park, RVNL will have to pay the MoD an annual lease rent of Rs 37.5 lakh.
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