CHENNAI: The new mofussil bus terminus at Kilambakkam, being built at a cost of Rs 393.74 crore, to cater to south-bound buses is likely to miss the deadline again.
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority chairman P K Sekarbabu on Monday said the opening of the bus terminus could be delayed by a week or two, and it will be read by July end. The bus terminus, which is to be named Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus on the occasion of former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s 100th birth anniversary that falls next year, was to be opened in June.
Blaming the previous AIADMK government for the delay, the minister said the previous regime designed the terminus without considering the bus traffic coming to the terminus, adding the basic needs of people were also not taken into account. CMDA is planning to construct a roundabout and widen roads besides providing idle parking for omnibuses.
The project was to be completed before March 2021 but due to the pandemic, it got delayed. Following the change of government, it was announced that the bus terminus would be completed by September last year. However, the work could not be completed and the deadline was extended to December and later to February and then to March, and so on.
After the issue of traffic congestion was highlighted by the Tambaram police commissioner earlier this year, CMDA is planning to construct a roundabout and widen roads besides providing idle parking for omnibuses at Outer Ring Road. A five-acre land was identified for the omnibuses, which the minister clarified was not the issue for the delay.
CMDA is planning to construct a roundabout at Guduvanchery while different stretches of road will be widened to ease traffic congestion. These include widening the road from Guduvancheri, Madambakkam Road to Mannivakkam by about 7 km, from Kandigai to Guduvancheri by about 18 km, and from Nallampakkam to Urapakkam GST Road (10 km).
Kilambakkam bus terminus once completed is expected to cater to about 1.5 lakh passengers. Work is also on to build a skywalk to connect the bus terminus to the railway station.