The Hindu : Natpac moots shifting of bus terminal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 17, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Natpac moots shifting of bus terminal

By S. Anil Radhakrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 16. The shifting of the City Bus Terminal to the rear of the Putharikkandam maidan and the integration of the Central Bus Station, Railway Station and City Bus Terminal with the extension of the foot overbridge at the railway station have been mooted to reduce the congestion in the Thampanoor-Overbridge-East Fort stretch.

The proposal has been made by the National Transportation Planning & Research Centre (Natpac) as the existing terminal at East Fort on the entrance of the Chalai Bazar and the boarding and alighting operations of the KSRTC and private buses on the main carriageway create traffic snarls during the major part of the day.

Some 4,000-5,000 vehicles ply per hour and an equal number of pedestrians jostle for space on the Thampanoor- Overbridge-East Fort stretch, it is pointed out. According to Natpac, 25 per cent of the mishaps taking place on the stretch involve pedestrians as victims.

As per the proposal, the terminal should be relocated to the side of the new link road from Power House Road and to the rear of the Putharikkandam maidan. The buses coming to East Fort will have to turn left from Melepazhavangadi, allowing passengers to alight at the bay before winding up services at the new terminal. All buses coming from Karamana and bound for East Fort, can reach the new terminal through the Chorakattupalayam-Power House Road.

The Natpac Director, T. Elangovan told The Hindu that land acquisition for the proposed terminal would not be a problem as the site identified for it was in the possession of the City Corporation and was now being used by the civic body for dumping garbage.

Mr. Elangovan said the relocating of the terminal to the rear side of the Putharikkandam maidan and extension of the foot overbridge alone would reduce the present traffic congestion by 50 to 60 per cent. The report would be submitted soon to the authorities concerned, he said.

The opening to the new city terminal should be made opposite the second Railway Terminal at the crossing of the Power House Road and Central Theatre Road. The passengers of all city buses bound for East Fort can alight on this road. The boarding operations are to be regulated within the present garage.

The boarding activities by the side of the Fort wall would need relocation as conservation work on the Fort walls has commenced. Once the bus bays are shifted, the entire area adjacent to the Fort wall can be landscaped and preserved.

In order to ensure the integration of the passenger terminals, Natpac has also suggested the extension of the foot overbridge at the railway station to the entrance of the Central Bus Station near the KTDC's Hotel Chaithram and between the second terminal to the proposed city bus stand across the Power House Road.

With extension of the foot overbridge across the Power House and Thampanoor roads, long-distance rail and bus commuters alighting at Thampanoor would have unhindered access to the city bus terminal. The distance from Thampanoor to East Fort would be reduced to 400 metres and pedestrians would have a segregated walkway.

The traffic congestion between East Fort and Palayam Junction can be drastically reduced by constructing the missing links on the parallel road to MG Road on the eastern side. Natpac has suggested constructing a flyover across the railway line between the RMS office and the Parthas-Power House Road crossing.

With this, the existing Nandavanam-Housing Board Junction-Sreekumar Theatre Junction Road can be linked up to East Fort through Ajantha Theatre and Pazhavangadi Junction. Nearly one-third of the traffic now using the main road can be diverted to this road.

On the Western side, the proposal mooted is to cover the canal with concrete slabs from the Pazhavangadi Junction to the Uppilamoodu Bridge and constructing a flyover between the canal road and Chettikulangara to serve as a bypass to the MG Road.

According to Natpac, more than 60 per cent of the traffic now plying on the already strained main arterial road can be diverted through these two roads. Both the roads would also function as an alternative road to the capital city when the main road gets blocked due to the processions and jathas.

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