Construction of bus terminal in Srirangam likely to be delayed as sourcing of fund continues

TIRUCHI

The Tiruchi Corporation’s move to build a bus terminal in Srirangam is likely to be delayed due to problems in sourcing funds for the project.

Construction of a bus terminus has been a long-pending demand of the residents of Srirangam and devotees visiting Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. The temple town attracts an average of 40,000 floating population daily, most of them devotees. In the absence of an organised bus stand, the buses operated by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and private transporters halt on the roadside to drop and pick up passengers.

The Corporation had made several announcements over the last 20 years on building a new bus stand. Some announcements were also made on the allotment of funds. But the bus stand proposals could not materialise due to various reasons. However, the recent announcement made by the Corporation on building a new bus terminal on the site where the demolished Srirangam Club functioned and the adjacent park site near the Rajagopuram of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, raised hope among the local residents and the devotees. Upon finalising the site, the Corporation officials began steps to level the ground and the park. Except for the trees, the site has been kept ready for the construction.

The Corporation subsequently carried out a preliminary study for the bus terminal project. It was estimated that it would cost about ₹10 crore. The site chosen for the bus terminal was sufficient to handle 10 to 12 buses at any time. After Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru visited the site, it was expected that the Corporation would appoint a consultant for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project in September itself. But, it is yet to float an expression of interest in appointing consultant.

Sources said that though the matter had been taken to the officials of the Directorate of the Municipal Administration, there was no concrete commitment on allocating funds to the project. It could be due to the allocation of huge funds to the Integrated Bus Terminus at Panjappur on the outskirts of the city. Hence, the process of appointing a consultant has been kept pending. However, the process would soon be resumed as efforts were being made to source funds for the Srirangam bus terminal project.

When contacted Mayor M. Anbazhagan told The Hindu that the Corporation was firm in building the bus terminal. Senior officials had visited Chennai a few days ago and discussed the project.