Replacing the shabby and ill-maintained KSRTC main bus stand in the city with a sprawling new bus stand-cum-commercial complex is encountering delays.

The plan to pull down the existing dilapidated structure and replace it with a modern structure having bus bays, multi-utility commercial spaces and shops was finalised in 2013. The design was to take into account factors like water-logging on the premises caused by dirty water from the adjacent canal making its way into the bus stand.

A high-ranking KSRTC official said that efforts were on to shift the counters and other offices in the stand to a garage which was being built nearby. “The work on the garage should have been over by March. But only 70 per cent of the work is over. This has delayed pulling down of the existing building.”

The agency has envisaged a multi-storeyed building, to generate revenue from the structure. “The RTC will ready the basement, following which interest-free deposits will be taken from those interested in taking shops and other spaces. Taking into account the experience of the unviable B.O.T. bus stand-cum-shopping complex projects in Thampanoor, Tiruvalla, Angamaly and Kozhikode, we have decided to auction the structure floor by floor. Which means, it will be a two-storeyed one if there are no takers for the upper floors,” he said.

In the meantime, the approach road to the stand has been widened as the GCDA has surrendered land for the purpose. A few structures have to be pulled down and drains modified to ensure optimal usage of the widened road.

News : The Hindu

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