Will Kilambakkam bus terminus relieve Koyambedu, but congest GST Road, residents wonder
The Hindu
Will Kilambakkam bus terminus relieve Koyambedu, but congest GST Road, residents wonder
The satellite bus terminus at Kilambakkam, conceived to ease traffic congestion in south Chennai and provide much-needed relief to the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus at Koyambedu, looks to be taking its own time, with minor tasks still pending.
The Kilambakkam terminus is being constructed on GST Road by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and is meant to be an answer to the traffic snarls plaguing the area between Koyambedu and Perungalathur. During festive seasons in particular, the Koyambedu terminus bursts at the seams because of the convergence of Metro, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) and omni-buses.
Similar to the Madhavaram terminus, which, too, was constructed by CMDA to help scatter the crowds bound for destinations in Andhra Pradesh and northern parts of the State, CMDA planned to build two satellite bus termini, one each at Kilambakkam and Kuthambakkam.
The Kilambakkam terminus project, which was launched in 2019, was supposed to have been completed by 2021, but it was delayed by the COVID-19 lockdown.
When the lockdown was fully lifted in 2022, the paucity of labour from north Chennai delayed the project again. CMDA had planned to inaugurate the terminus by December last year or January this year. But the project is yet to be completed.
Sources in CMDA said civil work, along with the installation of escalators and lifts and even the interior decoration in the main terminus, has been completed. A separate building for MTC’s operational convenience has also been completed, and so have the bus bay shelters and the workshop buildings. The interior has been beautified with wall murals and paintings.
P.K. Sekarbabu, Minister for CMDA and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, said the pending work — comprising storm water drain, road widening and minor finishing work in the dormitory and basement car parking — had held up the inauguration.
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