The dilapidated building that houses the KSRTC bus stand in Ernakulam will be dismantled shortly and replaced with a new one, for which an order will be issued in the coming week, says a release issued on Friday by the office of Industries Minister P. Rajeeve.
It has also been decided not to go ahead with the land exchange plan between the KSRTC and Vyttila Mobility Hub Society (VMHS), wherein the KSRTC’s land at Karikkamuri was to be swapped with equivalent land at the Vyttila Mobility Hub (VMH). Changes would be made in an agreement reached in this regard, it was decided at a meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram in the presence of Mr. Rajeeve and Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar.
A new integrated bus terminal will come up on 2.90 acres of the KSRTC-owned land at Karikkamuri, where the KSRTC will be allotted six bus bays, apart from the station master’s office and amenities for bus crew and other KSRTC employees. KSRTC buses will not have to pay user fee for entering the premises, while the existing garage will be relocated. The feasibility of readying commercial space here will be probed.
The proposed bus terminal that will be built by the Kerala State Construction Corporation will be on the lines of VMH, where private buses will share space with KSRTC buses. Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) had sanctioned ₹12 crore for the first phase of construction works of the terminal that would come up close to the Ernakulam Junction railway station and the Kochi metro’s Ernakulam South station, Mr Rajeeve said.
On its part, the KSRTC will be given adequate space at VMH. This will in turn lead to two major bus terminals in Kochi where both KSRTC and private buses will share space. The others who attended the meeting were T.J. Vinod, MLA, Transport Secretary K. Vasuki, Transport Commissioner C.H. Nagaraju, and CSML chief executive officer Shaji Nair.
Published - January 18, 2025 01:45 am IST
