Coimbatore:
Complying with a high court order, the city corporation has at last decided to shift the Sungam Bus Depot,
which is encroaching on the Valankulam tank bund,
to a site near Ukkadam. At its place, the corporation will set up a museum using Tamil Nadu urban development fund, a corporation engineer told TOI. The Ukkadam Bus Depot will also be shifted to a land near Ukkadam and a canal bazaar will be set up at its place.
The city corporation came up with the master plan under the smart city mission developed by New Delhi-based consultant Oasis Designs Inc, which has planned innovative projects in five locations that are currently underutilised. “These are the lake spaces, which need to be freed up. These areas will be earmarked and projects such as museums, parks and learning centres will be set up in their place, which will become a part of the city’s identity,” said an architect in the know-how.
According to the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation officials, at Sungam depot, which has the capacity to accommodate 1,10 buses, 87 buses are halted between 9pm and 4am. During the day time only three or four buses are stationed and the entire once acre land is kept empty and underutilised. There is an office space with nearly 20 employees working, a petrol pump and a bus wash area.
“This space lies idle through the day. The buses can always be stationed elsewhere. This is one of the prime locations and since this part of the city lacks good public spaces, it could be used for setting up a museum. Under the private public partnership, the museum can be set up similar to the ones in foreign countries as a city museum,” said an architect. A live model of river Noyyal will be exhibited at the museum.
City corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan said that this is just a part of the master plan. “We have to study and prepare a detailed project report before we go ahead with the project. It is still in the preliminary stage,” he said.
The Ukkadam Bus Depot also lies empty through the day. “When the Ukkadam Bus Stand shifts to Vellalore Dump Yard, this bus depot will also be shifted and corporation will provide alternate land for it. At the depot, Ukkadam canal bazaar will be set up,” said an official.
Apart from these, an urban biodiversity park at Singanallur lake, a nature centre near Ukkadam lake and a wetland centre at TNAU will be set up. “All these lands belong to the corporation and there will not be any difficulty in getting approvals. In some spaces that are encroached, they can be provided alternate spaces,” said an official.
The five projects will be taken up only after the lake rejuvenation project is completed. They will be executed under private-public partnership.
