Mohali’s local trip now costs Ludhiana

MOHALI: Ever since Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (Gmada) has seized the land of the old transport facility in Phase VIII, going to a local bus stand from Phase XI costs almost as much as a trip to Ludhiana.
Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Interstate Bus Terminus in Phase VI is at the other end of the city from the southern sectors of Mohali. Taking an auto-rickshaw there from Phase XI costs up to Rs 80. Punjab Roadways takes you to Ludhiana in Rs 85. The residents of Phases IX, X, and XI want a local bus stand somewhere in the middle of the city, at a convenient distance from their homes, since it will save them a lot of travel time and money.

Medical representative Tejpreet Singh of Phase XI, whose job is to travel from city to city, says: “Primarily, I use state transport. Earlier, it was convenient to catch a bus for Punjab from Phase VIII but Gmada has demolished that bus stand. Getting to the Phase VI bus stand is a lot costlier and a lot more time-consuming, since it is located at the other end of the city. The Mohali administration should give the southern-side public an alternative.”

On April 14, Gmada had dug up the approach road and the parking bays of the old bus stand in Phase VIII to take possession of about 6 acres of prime land worth about Rs 100 crore. The authority will now auction this land for the purpose of building a business-cumshopping centre on the site. The old bus stand was an illegal structure with metal-sheet roof supported by walls on three sides. Gmada chief administrator Ravi Bhagat said: “The land belongs to Gmada and the bus stand over it was illegal.”

Sources in Gmada said the main structure of the old bus stand would be demolished in a few days, before the land auction. The sources added that Gmada planned to use the side for raising a city centre that will have offices, shopping malls, and multiplexes. Recently, private bus operators had also protested outside the demolished bus stand in Phase VIII and some of the residents from the southern phases had joined them.