Swanky bus terminus at Sholinghur town will soon accelerate pilgrims’ progress

Ranipet's Sholinghur town to get modern bus terminus; ₹20-cr project to benefit 10-15 villages, pilgrims. DPR underway for new facility with waiting hall, bus bays, commercial complex, parking, public announcement system, LED lights, CCTV, ramps for disabled. Lodging facility to help pilgrims get budget accommodation, facilitate travel.

The dilapidated bus terminus in Sholinghur town near Ranipet will be soon replaced with a swanky modern facility as the work to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a proposed ₹20-crore project is under way.

Officials of the Sholinghur municipality, which maintains the old bus terminus built in 1994, said discussion on rebuilding the bus terminus was brought about by the steady increase in visitors, especially pilgrims from neighbouring States such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The new terminus work is the first major project taken up by the civic body after it was upgraded into a municipality from a town panchayat two years ago. “Based on the DPR, we will seek funds for the project. Apart from benefiting the town, the new terminus will also help commuters from at least 10-15 neighbouring villages,” B. Kanniyappan, Commissioner, Sholinghur municipality, told The Hindu. As per the plan, the new terminus will come up on a land parcel of 3.5 acres near the old bus terminus.

Additional open space from the adjacent community hall will be acquired for the purpose. The old bus terminus takes up one acre of land.

The new terminus will have a waiting hall for commuters, bus bays, a commercial complex, parking lots, a public announcement system, digital time display boards, a time-keeper’s office, water taps, toilets and ramps for people with disabilities. CCTV cameras will be installed and LED lights will be solar-powered. At present, 120 buses, including 35 private buses, ply on the Sholinghur-Arakkonam Main Road, linking big towns, including Sholinghur, Arakkonam, Vellore, Ambur, Katpadi and Gudiyatham through Walajah. The buses provide over 350 services every day. They halt at bus stops that do not have proper shelters or lighting facilities. As the town attracts pilgrims from all over to the Lakshmi Narasimmaswamy temple on the hillock, the municipality plans to connect arterial roads with the new terminus for the benefit of commuters who wants to travel to other big towns and pilgrimage centres such as Tirupathi, Tiruttani, Chittoor and Sripuram (Vellore).   In terms of revenue generation, the civic body plans to provide space for 200 shops, besides lodging facilities on the first floor of the commercial complex of the new terminus. The lodging facility at the terminus will help pilgrims from other places to get accommodation for budget prices and facilitate hassle-free travel, municipal officials said.   A farming town, Sholinghur consists of 27 wards covering 9.50 sq.km. It has a population of 1.13 lakh persons, who are mostly dependent on farming activities and small businesses.