Almost 10 years have passed since the Tiruchi Corporation came up with a proposal to set up a bus terminus at Srirangam. The problems faced by people and pilgrims visiting Srirangam have seen manifold increase since then. But, the terminus is yet to become a reality.
Setting up of a bus stand has been a long-pending demand of residents of Srirangam. When late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was elected to the Assembly from Srirangam constituency in 2011, the electorate had sought her intervention to set up a terminus to solve the frequent traffic jams and haphazard parking of vehicles on streets in the absence of a proper parking lots and bus terminus. The corporation subsequently unveiled a plan to build a bus stand in Srirangam in 2012-13 and earmarked ₹9 crore for the project and identified a 6.6 acre site near the Yatri Nivas on Panchakarai on the banks of the Kollidam.
But, the project was put in the back-burner after the disqualification of Jayalalithaa as MLA in 2014. After a gap of about seven years, the Corporation revived the proposal about a year ago and prepared a new Detailed Project Report for setting up the bus terminus at a cost of ₹ 23 crore for building the terminus. According to highly placed sources, the new proposal too ran into trouble with the Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDCO), which extends financial assistance to various infrastructural projects, raising queries over the suitability of the bus stand specially when it is aimed at handling buses playing between Srirangam and Central Bus Stand on a single route.
Following this, the civic body recently mooted an idea to convert the proposed bus terminus as multi-route terminus by accommodating buses on several routes, including Ariyalur, Jayankondam, Perambalur, Lalgudi, Pullambadi, Anbil and Mannachanallur. But, the delay in formalising the proposal with additional changes does not augur well for the residents of Srirangam.
“We have heard the proposal for long. But, I do not see anything tangible regarding the new bus stand. It seems that the proposal is only on paper. It is disappointing,” says S. Viswanathan, president, Thanneer, a resident of Srirangam.
