Tiruchi plans to revive a proposal to build a new bus terminus in Srirangam.
It has been a long-pending demand of residents of Srirangam as well as tourists and pilgrims visiting Ranganathaswami Temple. Though the proposal was originally mooted about 10 years ago, the demand gained strength when former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was elected to the Assembly from Srirangam constituency in 2011. The State government implemented or planned a slew of projects in Tiruchi, particularly Srirangam constituency, between 2011 and 2016.
Building a bus terminus in Srirangam was among the projects planned. The corporation unveiled a plan to build a bus stand in Srirangam in 2012-13 and earmarked ₹9 crore for the project.
It identified a 6.6-acre site near Yatri Nivas on Panchakarai on the banks of the Kollidam. A detailed project report was also prepared then. But it was put in cold storage after disqualification of Jayalalithaa as MLA in 2014.
Due to persistant demand, the civic body took up the proposal again in 2019 after a gap of about seven years. A new detailed project report was prepared to execute the project at the same location. It proposed to implement it at a cost ₹23 crore and sought the services of Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDCO) to validate the project. Subsequently, a team of TUFICDCO officials inspected the project site. Since a number of objections were raised, the civic body shelved the project.
After the DMK came back to power, the bus terminus plan has been revived.
Confirming the development, a senior official of the Corporation told The Hindu that the proposal was being redrawn taking into account of various factors including volume of traffic. The land situated close to Yatri Nivas on Panchakarai would no longer be the site of the bus terminus. A few sites in Srirangam had been shortlisted for it. A clear picture would emerge within a few weeks.
