Kerala - Kannur   

Central bus terminal inaugurated

NEW FACILITY: Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan being received at the newly developed Central Bus Terminal in Kannur on Sunday.

KANNUR: The new Central Bus Terminal Complex comprising modern passenger amenities, shopping facilities and a guest house with star facilities developed here on a built-operate-transfer (BOT) basis was inaugurated on Sunday.

While the Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed inaugurated the bus terminal and infrastructure, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan opened the shopping complex and the guest house.

The bus terminal built on what was once a water-logged area at Thavakkara close to the heart of the town was a long-cherished dream of the people here as the existing municipal bus stand was found to have been equipped to handle increasing number of buses from here.

Inaugurating the bus terminal, Mr. Ahamed, who had also served as chairman of the municipality, said that the town required more infrastructure facilities as it was rapidly growing.

He said that political consensus here on developmental issues was encouraging. The proposal for a railway over-bridge here to reduce traffic congestion in the town had to be pursued. He promised that he would extent full support to any initiative of the municipality to take up the proposal to the Railway authorities.

Stressing the importance of creating infrastructure facilities and public amenities to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing town, Mr. Ahamed said that the authorities should initiate steps to develop a sewage system in the town.

The sewage system was essential for the town which had over 40 apartment projects including those completed and in the pipeline, he added.

In his inaugural address, Mr. Balakrishnan said that it was the obligation of the government and the local bodies to develop modern facilities and infrastructure in proportion to the development of towns.

They were also bound to solve problems being created by growing urbanisation, he added.

The BOT route was an answer to local bodies struggling to find funds for developing public facilities, he added.

Kannur MLA K. Sudhakaran presided over the function. Municipal chairman B.P. Farooque welcomed the gathering. A.P. Abdullakutty, MP, M. Prakasan, MLA, Ramachandran Kadannappally, MLA, and district panchayat president K.K. Narayanan were among those who offered felicitation.

Sarathchandran, managing director of the ICICI-Kinfra that conceived the bus terminal project and monitored its implementation was also present.

The project with an outlay of Rs. 32 crore was developed by K.K. Builders at Peravur here and its architectural design was made by Deepak of Archons, Bangalore.

The works started by mid-2005. Under the agreement, the municipality will receive an annuity fee of Rs. 10 lakh for the BOT period of 29 years and three months.

The bus terminal has been built without any investment from the municipality. The bus terminal comprises five blocks including the main terminal block, three commercial blocks and a guest house. The terminal has facility to park 51 buses and spacious waiting spaces.

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