Kolkata: After months of stalemate and delay, the traders of Dr BC Roy Market have agreed to shift to the new stalls built for them by Oct 15, a step that will enable the construction of the much-delayed Esplanade station of the Joka-Esplanade corridor.Kishore Manglani, secretary of Dr BC Roy Market Stall Owners’ Association, said that the association has asked all 416 traders affiliated to it to shift by Oct 15.The association will organise its 71-year-old Durga Puja on the new market premises this year. “We will start the puja on Panchami and shift to the newly built market. The Durga Puja used to be organised in the old market building, but this year we will organise it on the newly built premises. We have committed to RVNL and PWD about the date of shifting,” Manglani said. “We have invited CM Suvendu Adhikari to visit our Durga Puja,” he added.A senior PWD official confirmed that the association has “finally agreed that all traders will move to the new market structure”.The new temporary market has been built next to the old market building by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the construction arm of Railways that is building the Purple Line.The Purple Line will have interchanges with North-South (Blue) and East-West (Green) corridors. Only 7.7 km of the corridor, between Joka and Majerhat, is operational now.The state PWD, custodian of the old market building, had earlier set a deadline for the traders to shift by Aug 26, but the latter did not relent. This time, however, the traders have themselves committed to a deadline. “We are happy that a much-needed public infrastructure can be built now,” said the PWD official.A trader said a court order had said that they must be shifted back to where the old building stands after the construction of Esplanade station is complete. “We have the court order. We are sure that the authorities will not renege on their promise as that would amount to contempt of court,” he said.Sources said once the old market is vacated, RVNL will pull down the structure and begin the construction of the station.The new structure of Dr BC Roy Market, also known as Bidhan Market — famous for selling sports goods — has multiple hangars with rows of stalls on either side of corridors.
