Madhavaram terminus to be opened in a month
Kilambakkam Bus Facility Still In Limbo

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai 25.05.2018

: The intercity bus terminus at Madhavaram for services to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is set to be inaugurated in a month, but the proposed facility in Kilambakkam for operations to the southern districts remains stuck due to lack of clearance from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Officials said work at the Madhavaram terminus which has been built over an area of eight acres was completed at a cost of ₹95 crore.

The facility will have the capacity to accommodate 100 buses at any given time and will operate about 315 services to Tirupati, Nellore, Vijayawada, Kurnool, Puttaparthi, Visakhapatnam, Bhadrachalam and Hyderabad every day. Around 12,500 passengers are expected to use the facility on a daily basis.

CMDA officials said they had written to the ASI seeking its consent for the Kilambakkam terminus as a portion of the land is adjacent to a site under the purview of the custodian of centrally protected monuments. “We are yet to get approval from the ASI for going ahead with the construction,” a CMDA official told TOI.

The state government had initially earmarked 88 acres at Kilambakkam on the busy GST Road two years ago for establishing the satellite bus terminus before scaling down the quantum of land for the facility to 35 acres in the face of opposition from the ASI. However, ASI clearance is still required for a parcel of land.

A consultant is preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for the terminus that will be built at an estimated ₹300 crore. The DPR, which is likely to be ready in a month, will also provide the design for the terminus that includes a dedicated location for Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses to pick up passengers travelling to different parts of Chennai.

CMDA officials said a plan to link the Kilambakkam bus terminus with the Urapakkam Railway Station through a subway is unlikely to materialise. Noting that the 500m distance cutting across GST Road includes a water body, an official said the subway was likely to be inundated during the monsoon. “So, this plan was not pursued. Also, no flyover can come up in the light of the proposed elevated corridor on GST Road,” the official said.

Experts are exploring options to connect the two facilities through other means.