BMRCL leaves it to govt on naming stations

 A proposal to rename metro stations after eminent personalities like Dr B R Ambedkar has been sent to the State government.

However, metro officials say stations will be more easily identifiable by people if they are named after the locations rather than famous personalities. “If one metro station is named after an eminent personality, many groups are likely to approach the government asking for stations to be named after their community leaders. There won’t be an end to this. Therefore, we are neutral as far as naming is concerned and will wait for the State government to take a decision on the matter,” a senior metro official said.

Many groups want the Vidhana Soudha station to be named after Ambedkar, while others want the entire metro to be named after Kempe Gowda. There are groups also pressing for stations to be named after the late actors Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan. There are also groups who like Shankar Nag and would love his name to be attached to the metro.

“A proposal is before the government to name stations and the metro after iconic figures. We are for a uniform policy. Whatever be the decision, it will have to be a standard one applicable to all stations. Basically, we want passengers to be able to identify the stations easily,” a senior metro official told Deccan Herald.

In Chennai too, different social interest groups are keen that the stations be named after actors such as Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Vijaykanth, Ajith and Dhanush. The Chennai metro authorities too have left it to the government to decide on the issue. In Mumbai, too, the authorities are confronted with the same naming problem.