Velachery bus terminus to be shifted near rly stn

Velachery bus terminus to be shifted near rly stn

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai: After a gap of nearly 10 years, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai has finally taken an initiative to shift the Velachery bus terminus to a new location near the local railway station.

At present, the terminus is functioning from a small piece of land near Vijayanagaram junction. But it is in shambles, and bus movement has become difficult ever since the government started constructing a flyover at this stretch in 2016. There is no space even for passengers to wait until their bus arrives.

Since then, residents have appealed to shift the terminus to a new location. The MTC tried to move it near Velachery railway station in 2018. But the attempt could not bear fruit as talks between various government agencies failed.

Against this backdrop,the transport corporation is trying to shift operations to another six-acre land near the station (abutting Velachery Bypass Road).

"The land has been allotted to us. We are taking steps to pay for the land in instalments," said A Anbu Abraham, managing director of MTC. The land alone might roughly cost ₹38 crore.

S Kumararaja, a resident-activist from Vela- chery, said that MTC said, "If this becomes a reality, not only MTC buses but mofussil services can also be operated from this location. Currently, government mofussil buses to Villupuram, Pudhucherry, and Tiruvannamalai are operated from Adyar. Instead of parking them along congested Indira Nagar roads, operations can be smoother from the proposed sitein Velachery".

This project, which was launched 10 years ago during the DMK regime, was left in the lurch. Only now, some steps are taken. However, MTC might not have adequate funds to construct a new bus stand or workshop, it can seek financial assistance from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), he opined.

The CMDA, the nodal planning agency, constructed two terminuses at Koyambedu and Kilambakkam.