KOCHI: At last the much-awaited AC bus shelter at Kakkanad was thrown open to the public on Monday! The Minister of Local Body inaugurated the AC bus shelter which has been installed before the district panchayat. Now, the commuters awaiting buses towards their destination can beat the heat and also kill time by making use of the facilities at the bus shelter. The bus shelter, which has been constructed in association with the District Cooperative bank, has facilities like ATM counters, newspaper, drinking water and television. The bus shelter is covered with ‘aeon' glass and has automatic doors too.
Though project was kicked off during Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly's tenure as the district panchayat president, the new governing council failed to follow the project. The panchayat had even allocated Rs 3 crore to set up AC shelters at 25 main centres as part of the ‘Thanal' project from its 2014 plan fund. However, the project got nearly scrapped due to shortage of funds. The jinx that haunted the project broke only after an MoU was signed with the District Co operative bank.
As per the MoU the bank can operate the ATM at the shelter for 25 years. "The project will kickstart a new trend. This bus shelter is the first of its kind in the state. The security and CCTV coverage at the shelter makes this project a safe and secure one. This project will become very popular. We will soon provide Wifi facilities inside the bus shelter," said Asha Sanil, district panchayat president. The inauguration has provided a much needed boost for the latent project. The district panchayat is upbeat and has decided to extend it to other areas as well. "Time is a major constraint, but we have started approaching agencies who are interested in setting up such bus stops," she added.