Two years after it was conceived and more than a year after approval by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, the Inter-City Bus Terminus (ICBT) at Miyapur remains consigned to backburner. The same seems to be the fate of two Logistic Hubs on the city outskirts.
Towards easing traffic woes in the city, the ICBT and Logistic Hubs were planned by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and even developers identified for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects after the tender process.
The Chief Minister gave his approval to the projects in January 2012. A team from the AP Infrastructure Development Corporation (APIDC) also visited the sites and gave its clearance last year itself. However, since then the projects have remained stuck in what is described as the “final lap of clearances” from the Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) Department.
HMDA officials said they had presented all the relevant papers, including the concluding agreement, for perusal to the MA&UD. “We are waiting for a nod from the MA&UD to take the projects further,” an official said.
Acting as a one-stop integrated facility for passengers heading for different destinations from the city and also providing a common space for bus operators, the ICBT is to come up on a 55-acre site at Miyapur. The facility to be developed over 1 lakh sq. ft envisages infrastructure of international standards that include parking bays for 200 buses, platforms for outstation buses, apart from parking space for 1,000 buses. To ferry passengers from the city till here, another 20 city bus bays have been proposed.
A comprehensive paraphernalia for the terminal, including fuel stations, dormitories for drivers and staff, medical and emergency facilities apart from budget hotels, will be part of the ICBT.
At the same time, to meet the increasing freight demands and to ensure that trucks do not have to enter the city, compounding traffic chaos, the HMDA has decided to set up two Logistic Hubs on the outskirts.
One Logistic Hub is to come up at a 40-acre site at Batasingaram on the Vijayawada highway with a host of features such as parking space for 500 trucks, warehouse facility of more than 2 lakh sq. ft, cold storage provision to handle 10,000 metric tonnes, restaurants, fuel stations and health centre.
Another such hub has been cleared for Mangalapally on Nagarjunasagar highway.
