On January 24, Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani kick-started the work to construct an integrated bus terminus at Vellalore by participating in the ground-breaking ceremony.
The Coimbatore Corporation, with financial support from the State Government, will construct in the next two years the terminus on 61.62 acre land near its dump yard at ₹ 168 crore.
The State Government took over the project about four months ago after the Central Government attempted to build a bus port under the Bharat Mala scheme. Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had made an announcement in this regard here in December 2017 that the Central Government would fund two bus port projects in the State – one in Salem and another in Coimbatore.
Consequent upon the Central Government’s decision, the Coimbatore Corporation shared with the National Highways the detailed project report it had prepared to construct a new bus stand. After a series of back and forth correspondences, the State Government decided to take over the project by funding 50% of the project cost. The Corporation was to bear the rest.
Sources familiar with the developments said, the National Highways’ queries related to the bus port project were what the Corporation proposed to do with the dump yard, which had around 19 lakh cubic metre accumulated waste, and the expansion of roads around the proposed bus port to ensure easy movement of buses.
As the State Government and the Corporation were insistent on having the bus port at Vellalore and as the National Highways was unhappy with the location, the Government decided to take over the project.
The sources said the Highways was concerned about the width of the Podanur-Chettipalayam Road being inadequate to accommodate the increased bus movement, the absence of wide roads from Vellalore to Singanallur and, similarly, from Vellalore to the Chengapalli-Walayar Bypass Road.
Minister Mr. Velumani, however, said that the Government decided to go ahead with the Corporation's plan to construct the bus terminus at Vellalore because it could not find an alternative land.
Further justifying the decision, he said the waste lying accumulated at the Vellalore yard would not be a problem as the Corporation would soon start processing it, and, the State Government had proposed to construct a grade separator (elevated corridor) from the Chengapalli-Walayar Bypass to the bus terminus.
If the State Government and Corporation had drawn such plans why was it that they were unable to respond satisfactorily to the queries the National Highways had raised, asked Coimbatore Consumer Cause secretary K. Kathirmathiyon.
The land that the Government and Corporation had finalised for the bus terminus would serve no purpose because connecting Vellalore to the city and roads that led to towns nearby would always be a problem.
By constructing the bus terminus at Vellalore, how does the Government or Corporation propose to serve buses from Mettupalayam, Sathyamangalam, Tiruppur or Erode. If the Government or Corporation did not have a plan, it only showed that they have not thought through the bus terminus plan in a comprehensive fashion but were interested only in constructing a new facility.
If buses from Mettupalayam or Sathyamangalam or Ooty were to pass through Gandhipuram to reach Vellalore, how would it ease congestion within the city, something that the Minister and the Corporation had been talking about as the prime objective behind the bus terminus project.
And, if the Government were to order the termination of all buses in Vellalore and introduce additional bus service to city, it would again lead to congestion.
Besides, the commuters would be forced to spend more – from their starting point to Vellalore and from there to the city, Mr. Kathirmathiyon pointed out.
Corporation officials, however, said they were yet to work out such operational details but proposed to do so within the two years it took to construct the terminus. Similarly, the Corporation was yet to talk to the State Highways for widening the approach roads to the terminus.
This was nothing short of the ‘cutting the foot to suit the boot’ approach, the consumer activist quipped. In addition to the location of the Vellalore bus terminus, the absence of proper connectivity, the possibility of commuters paying more, there was another issue that the Corporation seemed to be oblivious to.
The Madras High Court had in an order clearly said that buses to destinations less than 55 km would necessarily have to reach Gandhipuram. How the Corporation planned to get around this and given the others challenges, it seemed to have gone ahead with the bus terminus project without addressing all issues, he added.
