Every evening, hundreds of sleeper and other luxury buses ferrying commuters to Bengaluru and other metros are seen parked in two or three rows on the western side (city side) of the Vyttila Junction. The scene is symbolic of the slack patronage enjoyed by the Vyttila Mobility Hub (VMH), located on the junction’s eastern side, more than 11 years since the facility was commissioned.
A dozen of these buses are often seen parked at the congested junction, considered the busiest in Kerala, even as only a minuscule portion of the sprawling 26-acre mobility hub premises has been put to use to host a small bus terminal and a metro station. Proposals to accommodate these buses at the hub, and to re-route long-distance KSRTC buses that now call at its bus depot in the city date back to about a decade.
Much of the hub premises has become weed-infested while paver blocks laid on the carriageway have become severely undulated or have given way in many places, posing a danger to motorists and pedestrians. Inadequate lighting and narrow and shoddily-maintained footpaths are other reasons for passengers having given up on the hub.
The Vyttila Vikasana Samithi is the latest to join the bandwagon of organisations that have demanded that the VMH Society be held accountable for alleged inaction and slow pace of decision-making, including on beginning phase-two development work at the hub. “The shoddy condition of the hub’s premises has made it a scary place to visit. The undulated carriageway and the narrow space used by pedestrians add to the misery of commuters. The situation is such that commuters have to wade through slush and waterlogged stretches to enter and exit the premises,” said Samithi secretary T.N. Pratapan.
Shiyas M.A., a commuter who used to board buses from the hub, said the facility could see better days only if it was well-maintained and second phase work was speeded up. The hub also had the potential to host a mini-civil station on its premises, he added.
Official sources said the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) had sought the integration of the second phase development work proposed at the hub and at Vyttila Junction. The agency has suggested that buses and other vehicles exiting from the hub be re-routed through an alternative path, so that they bypass the congested junction. The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), which was entrusted with the task of readying short and long term solutions to decongest Vyttila, was probing options to zero in on the entry and exit routes of buses, the sources added.
Bus operators have for long been complaining of little being done to tidy the premises. They have also been demanding that dedicated parking spaces be made available for buses, although they have to pay a fee to enter the hub.
