KSRTC invites EoI to ready commercial complex at Ernakulam depot

KSRTC seeks firms to build commercial complexes at bus depots in Kerala on BOT basis.

After about a decade of uncertainty, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from firms to build and operate commercial complexes and other structures at the Ernakulam bus depot, and also at four other bus depots in the State.

As per the EoI dated November 11, the KSRTC has sought development of commercial activities in these prime lands that it owns, on a build-operate and transfer (BOT) basis over a 29-year lease period. This has been mulled at four acres of land in the Ernakulam depot and in smaller plots at Poovar (where a resort is planned), Kollam (resort and commercial complex), Perinthalmanna (commercial hub and medical hub) and also at Munnar where a five-star hotel has been envisaged.

While not confirming whether the proposed commercial complex would be built after demolishing the rickety and ill-maintained building that housed the KSRTC’s Ernakulam bus depot and the waiting area for passengers, sources said that the ground floor of the proposed structure would in all probability be set apart for use by the KSRTC. Shops and other commercial units would come up on the rest of the floors.

On whether steps would be taken to raise the ground level of the premises that are prone to flooding even during moderate rainfall, they said it would in all likelihood be done in tandem with people’s representatives, in the coming months.

Following a visit to the bus stand and the waterlogged garage premises in June, Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar had said that experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) would be roped in to find a temporary solution to the frequent inundation of the bus stand premises. This was because a long-term solution would entail huge expense.

As per tentative plan, a three-feet-high concrete retaining wall was to be built around the compound, to prevent intrusion of dirty water from an adjacent canal. In addition, a pipeline was to be laid beneath the nearby rail tracks through a culvert to drain away water.