The state government has initiated talks with private bus operators to shift the bus terminus from Esplanade to across the Hooghly.
An existing bus terminus in Santragachhi and a plot of government land on Foreshore Road in Howrah have been identified as possible alternatives.
The state government has also started hunting for land in New Town and on the southern fringe of the city to build two bus terminuses where long-distance buses would terminate, apart from those plying in the city.
Senior officers in the transport department said several rounds of talks have been held with private bus and minibus operators to discuss the challenges in shifting the Esplanade bus terminus and how they can be overcome.
Another meeting is scheduled next week.
“The basics, like marking bus bays, building washrooms, creating waiting lounges for passengers and ticket counters, will be taken up to make the two Howrah terminuses ready for the shift,” said a senior officer of the transport department. “Bus operators are being told that they will have to move out of Esplanade and we will offer necessary help in making the shift easier.”
Calcutta High Court had in September 2007 passed the order to shift the Esplanade bus terminus from its current location.
The high court is hearing a petition by environment activist Subhas Datta alleging that even after the Supreme Court ordered the shifting of the Esplanade bus terminus in December 2007, the state government is yet to execute it.
“In September, we submitted a list of places where a terminal for long-distance buses can be set up if the Esplanade terminus was closed down,” said a senior official of the transport department. “We are now trying to take it a step forward by talking to the bus operators about the move.”
The state government has also held discussions with long-distance bus operators — in the presence of police — to inform them that buses plying through parts of Esplanade, the central business district and the approach to Howrah bridge without valid permits while going to their terminating points on the city’s fringes would be prosecuted beginning January 22.
“There is a tendency among a section of long-distance bus operators to ply through these areas before reaching the final destination. The high court has flagged this concern and we have told bus operators that their permits would be cancelled if caught,” the official said.
Earlier, a high court division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya passed an order directing the state government to “form a team to conduct a thorough check of all vehicles plying through the central business district, Esplanade and the approach areas for Howrah Bridge for valid permits”.
“A meeting was held on Tuesday where the state government has warned long-distance bus operators against using these parts of Kolkata for onward movement to and from their terminuses to cut down on distance,” said Rahul Chatterjee of the All Bengal Bus Minibus Samannay Samiti.