Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) has allotted ₹12 crore to build an integrated bus terminal on the land owned by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at Karikkamuri, Hibi Eden, Ernakulam MP, has said.
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Both KSRTC and private buses will operate from the facility. In addition, the KSRTC will hand over four acres on its bus stand premises to Vyttila Mobility Hub, in return for VMH Society handing over three acres at the hub to KSRTC. This will enable both KSRTC and private buses to operate from the same premises, in both the locales.
“I had been making efforts to have a modern bus terminal on the ill-maintained KSRTC depot premises in the city, even when I was an MLA. The new bus stand will be built at Karikkamuri, next to the existing KSRTC stand/depot, by the Kerala State Construction Corporation. On its part, the VMH Society will re-develop the premises of the existing stand. Ernakulam MLA T.J. Vinod and Mayor M. Anilkumar have extended full support for the project,” Mr. Eden said.
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The 2,110-sq.m integrated bus terminal proposed at Karikkamuri will cover 17% of the three-acre premises. It will have 26 bus-boarding slots, including 20 for private buses. Staff rest rooms, seats for 168 passengers, bus-washing facility and adequate drainage too will be readied. There will be separate entry and exit for private vehicles, their parking space and a 7.5-m wide pedestrian pathway. In addition, there will be a 3-m wide pedestrian pathway from Ernakulam Junction railway station.
The ₹ 12 crore was from the ₹166 crore that CSML saved due to non-implementation of a modern sewage-treatment plant in West Kochi.
Mr. Eden added that the tenure of CSML was extended to 2024, thanks to the intervention he made with the Centre as a member of the Standing Committee on Urban Development.