KOCHI:The state’s first air-conditioned bus shelter, opened in front of the civil station a year ago, is a huge relief to the public who have to sweat it out any time when they have to board a bus from the spot.
The bus shelter, constructed by the district panchayat in association with the District Cooperative Bank, has facilities like ATM counters, newspaper stand, potable water dispenser and TV set.
“Really, it’s a huge relief for passengers as they get the high-class facility. Since the bus shelter is equipped with newspapers and a TV set, people will never get bored while waiting for a bus,” said Satheesh, a civil station employee, a regular user of the bus station.The bus shelter can accommodate nearly 15 passengers at a time.The project was kicked off during Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly’s tenure as the district panchayat president.
“The bus shelter has turned out to be a huge success with several people using it.But it will be successful only if bus operators extend their support. If they stop bus far from the bus stop, people can’t fully utilise the facility and they will be forced to take shelter under the old bus shelter,” said Mohanan, a resident of Kakkanad.
Though the panchayat had allocated `3 crore to set up AC shelters in 25 main centres as part of the ‘Thanal’ project from its 2014 plan fund, the shortage of funds had slowed down the pace of the highly publicised project. But when the panchayat opened the project to the public it received a warm reception from the public. However, the panchayat has failed to set aside fund as part of expanding it to other
areas.
“At present, we don’t have any plan to extend the project. No fund has been set aside for this purpose,” said district panchayat president Asha Sanil.