Extension of the central median, construction of an additional bus bay and eviction of vendors form part of the plans being worked out to ease traffic congestion in the main bus stand at East Fort. As a first step, the district administration will hold consultations with stakeholders, including general public, elected representatives and traders shortly.
District Collector Biju Prabhakar along with senior officials of the Transport Department and city police inspected the bus stand on Thursday. He told The Hindu that a comprehensive package was being worked out for the bus stand and if everything went according to the plan, it would be implemented within three to four months. A general consensus was that the central median should be extended close to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus depot at East Fort so that the present bus bay could be made wider to accommodate more buses. Also under active consideration was construction of another bay on the back of the bus stand. Notices would be served shortly on vendors who had occupied space on the back of the bus stand, he said. As an immediate measure to monitor whether both KSRTC and private buses maintained parking time in the bus stand, the traffic police would install biometric punching machine at East Fort. City Police Commissioner H. Venkatesh said the biometric machine would help police monitor the arrival and exit of buses.
A team from Keltron inspected the bus stand on Thursday to conduct a feasibility study, said Satheesh Kumar, Circle Inspector, Traffic South, adding that one machine would be kept at the main bus stand and another at the stand near Sree Padmanabha theatre. Biometric equipment would also be installed in the bus stands at Medical College, Pettah, Peroorkada, Valiathura, Pappanamcode and Vattiyurkavu, he said
