With only hours left for the opening of the Sabarimala temple for the annual pilgrim season, the uncertainty over ensuring sufficient space for parking State transport buses at Erumely has cast a shadow over the last leg of the preparations at the town.
With its multiple attempts to arrange additional parking space for Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses drawing a blank, the Erumely grama panchayat has submitted a report to the Kottayam Collector. As per it, the tenders floated on a number of times seeking space for bus parking have met with a cold response from the existing bidders.
“The agency that used to lease out its space for bus parking has set additional terms against the backdrop of a clash between its employees and a few KSRTC employees last season. Attempts are on to find a suitable space on a war footing and and we hope to strike a deal with any of the space contractors just ahead of the season,” said T.S. Krishna Kumar, president, Erumely panchayat.
32 buses
The KSRTC Operating Centre at Erumely, which functions on a 60-cent space, runs 32 buses on a daily basis but has space for parking a maximum of 20 buses.
With the start of the season, an addition fleet of 10 buses will join the services here while about 50 buses from various destinations are slated for a stopover here daily.
Further, no parking of vehicles will be allowed on the street even at night. “This will only compound the worsening traffic situation in the town, the streets of which are set to witness a heavy influx of pilgrim vehicles,” KSRTC sources said.
Besides the space for parking, the centre also lacks amenities for accommodating KSRTC employees on special duty. The long- pending demand to elevate the operating centre to the status of a depot by arranging more facilities has not been fruitful.
Meanwhile, the inordinate delay in the construction of a new terminal complex at the KSRTC Kottayam depot, which runs about 110 services daily, will prove to be a major hazard for pilgrims. As in previous years, a temporary shed will be erected on the depot premises for the pilgrims to take rest.
Special services
The corporation will operate 25 special services to Sabarimala in the first phase, which will be extended to 35 services in the next stage. A control room for operating the special services will be opened while a panel of bus crew has been constituted for these services.