The town’s Vanigar Sangam called protest shut down of shops opposing the proposal to shift the bus stand from town bus stand saw partial response, albeit the shops on the streets leading up to the bus stand remained shuttered through the day.
The opposition to the proposal has been a long-drawn out one, ever since the Municipality drew up a resolution for a new bus stand in 2015.
The proposal for a new bus stand has been on the cards since then, when Dharmapuri Municipality passed a resolution for shifting of the bus stand from its congested current location inside the town to outside of the municipality limits. It was opposed by the local businesses, primarily located around the bus stand. However, four years ago, the municipality was still in the process of scouting for land.
On Monday, over 60% of the shops in and around the bus stand down their shutters. Dharmapuri is among the seven urban local bodies that was sanctioned a new bus stand under Public-Private Partnership(PPP) through design, build, finance, operate and transfer(DBFOT) model. The private party will be responsible for the entire infrastructure and its maintenance, relieving the burden off the urban local bodies. The plan was to decongest the towns that were expanding and choking in traffic from within.
As of date, the sanctioned amount for the bus stand is ₹39.14 crore, and 10 acres of land has been transferred by a private party to the municipality off Dharmapuri-Salem national highway and also connected by the Pennagaram state highway.
