At least 70 buses on 11 inter-city routes have been asked to shift their parking spots away from Kolkata’s Esplanade bus terminus in a tentative move by the Bengal state transport department to declutter the area. The buses have been redirected to spots such as the Santragachhi terminus, Foreshore Road, and an approach road to Vidyasagar Setu. However, the department is expected to seek more time from the Calcutta High Court to complete the full relocation, citing the need to identify and develop infrastructure near Esplanade.
Dipu Pandey, secretary of the Esplanade Bus Terminus Operators’ Association, confirmed that approximately 70 buses followed the directive on Wednesday. They arrived at Esplanade 30 minutes before their scheduled departures to allow for loading of goods and boarding of passengers before heading to their destinations.
Transport officials plan to allow intra-city buses to drive into Esplanade once the necessary infrastructure for parking them is established. The objective is for the buses to stop briefly for passengers to alight and board before continuing their journeys.
The Calcutta High Court had directed the state to relocate the bus stand from Esplanade due to environmental concerns, including pollution in the Maidan area and around the Victoria Memorial, as well as the need to reduce congestion in the city center. Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty recently convened a meeting involving private bus operators, senior transport officials, and representatives from the Public Works Department (PWD) to discuss plans for the bus relocation. Transport Secretary Saumitra Mohan and PWD Secretary Antara Acharya were also in attendance.
Currently, around 600 intra-city and inter-city buses either start or end their trips at the Esplanade terminus each day. The court order mandates the relocation to mitigate congestion and pollution. Chakraborty highlighted the department’s efforts to identify new parking sites, such as the Santragachhi bus terminus. However, adequate infrastructure development is required at Santragachhi to accommodate the large number of buses, according to a transport official.
Chakraborty acknowledged that the process would be time-consuming and expressed the department’s intention to request an extension from the high court. One potential solution discussed during the meeting was the introduction of shuttle services by private operators to transport passengers from Esplanade to Santragachhi during the transitional phase. A transport department official mentioned that PWD engineers would prepare a detailed project report for the Santragachhi terminus, including a timeline for vacating the Esplanade bus stand. Currently, Santragachhi can accommodate only around 100 buses.
In addition to these plans, an area measuring 5,259 square meters adjacent to the KMRC office, below the approach to the second Hooghly bridge, has been marked as another potential site. This area has the capacity to accommodate 60 buses. There are also spots along Foreshore Road and Duke Road in Howrah that could house 200, 40, and 150 buses, respectively. However, encroachment issues exist at the Duke Road locations.
The transport department intends to continue exploring additional options to address the bus relocation. The state is committed to ensuring a smooth transition while taking into account the need for infrastructure development at new sites before the complete evacuation of the Esplanade bus stand.
