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Bengal Chemical metro station

Bengal Chemical - Metro Rail Station under Construction - Eastern Metropolitan Bypass - Kolkata 2015-11-09 4563
Bengal Chemical - Metro Rail Station under Construction - Eastern Metropolitan Bypass - Kolkata 2015-11-09 4563 Image: Wikimedia Commons. Biswarup Ganguly / CC BY 3.0

Bengal Chemical is a metro station on the East–West Corridor (Line 2) of the Kolkata Metro, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The station takes its name from the nearby premises of Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, the historic public-sector pharmaceutical and chemicals manufacturer founded by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray in 1901.

Key facts
Line Kolkata Metro Line 2 (Green Line, East–West Corridor)
Location Maniktala / Phoolbagan area, Kolkata, West Bengal
Owner Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC)
Operator Metro Railway, Kolkata (Indian Railways)
Structure Underground
Country India

Overview

The station forms part of the underground stretch of the East–West Metro, which connects Salt Lake Sector V in the eastern fringes of Kolkata with Howrah Maidan across the Hooghly river. Bengal Chemical lies on the segment that extends the corridor from Phoolbagan towards Sealdah and central Kolkata, serving the densely populated neighbourhoods around Maniktala and Beleghata Main Road.

Background

Line 2 is India's first under-river metro corridor, with a tunnel passing beneath the Hooghly between Howrah and Mahakaran. The line was conceived to ease pressure on Kolkata's surface road network and on the original North–South Metro (Line 1), and was implemented by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation as the executing agency.

Bengal Chemical station is named after the surrounding industrial landmark established by Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the earliest indigenous chemical and pharmaceutical enterprises in India. The naming reflects a tradition in Kolkata Metro of identifying stations through neighbourhood landmarks rather than only municipal place-names.

Connectivity

The station serves residents and commuters of the Maniktala, Beleghata and Phoolbagan localities, providing rapid transit access towards Salt Lake's IT hub on one side and the central business district and Howrah on the other. Surface connectivity is provided by city buses and auto-rickshaws on Beleghata Main Road and adjoining arteries.

Significance

As an intermediate station on the East–West Corridor, Bengal Chemical contributes to a continuous east-to-west rapid transit spine across Kolkata. Together with the rest of Line 2, it integrates suburban rail at Sealdah and Howrah with the metro network, supporting daily commuting between residential eastern Kolkata and employment centres in the city core and Howrah.

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