South Campus, Moti Bagh among 10 Metro stations that were renamed

NEW DELHI: Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus and Sir Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh stations on the Delhi Metro Pink Line did not carry the name of the two personalities in the original plan and they were rechristened on the recommendations of a panel, which had suggested renaming of eight other names on the network, according to sources.

Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus station, named after the freedom fighter, social worker and educationist, is a part of the Pink Line corridor inaugurated in mid-march, and Sir Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh station, expected to open soon, intends to for- tify the legacy of the legendary engineer-scholar.

Both places are among the 10 stations whose names were changed following recommendations of the committee set up for renaming Metro stations, the sources said.

“The other stations include Tughlakabad (changed to Tughlakabad Station), Okhla (to Harkesh Nagar Okhla), Badarpur (to Badarpur Border) on Violet Line; Okhla-phase III (to Okhla NSIC) on Magenta Line and Ghevra (Ghevra Metro Station) on Green Line,” a source said.

On the proposed corridor from Dwarka-dhansa bus stand, two stations were renamed after the panel’s recommendations - Municipal Corporation (to Najafgarh) and Najafgarh Depot Station (to Nangli).

The changes were approved by the Delhi government, the sources said, adding that the original plan of the Majlis Parksouth Campus corridor of Pink Line only mentioned the two stations as South Campus and Moti Bagh stations.

Deshmukh was instrumental in setting up the Sri Venkateswara College, a part of the Delhi University’s South Campus. The station is located in the vicinity of the college. The rechristening, in a nod to her legacy, was done prior to the opening of the Pink Line corridor.

Incidentally, the two stations are the first ones on the DMRC network to have been named after personalities, and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus is the first metro station to carry the name of a female luminary.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has also renamed some of its stations as part of its co-branding policy. As many as 41 stations have been taken up under the policy and many have been co-branded while others are in pipeline, the sources said.

Three stations on the Kalkaji Mandir-janakpuri West corridor on Magenta Line - set to be inaugurated tomorrow have been included in the cobranding exercise - IIT, Greater Kailalsh and Terminal 1-IGI Airport.