CHENNAI : The Tamil Nadu government has given approval to the Commissioner of Municipal Administration’s proposal to construct seven bus stands in seven urban local bodies at a cost of Rs 237.06 crore.The bus stands will come up in Kancheepuram, Tiruttani, Mayiladuthurai, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Tiruvanamalai and Tindivanam.The bus stands will be constructed through public-private partnership on the design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.
Under this, the required bus infrastructure will be constructed with full investment by the private agencies and will be maintained by them for 15 to 20 years.Sources said this would relieve the financial burden on the urban local bodies and would reduce the cost of operation and maintenance considerably. According to official sources, the Commissioner of Municipal Administration has proposed construction of new bus stands in the seven urban local bodies since the existing bus stands were constructed long ago.
As the towns were rapidly growing with bus stands situated in the heart of the town, the approach roads have become heavily congested, necessitating easing of the vehicular congestion and ensuring proper flow of traffic.Of the proposed seven bus stands, Rs 51.63 crore is required for Namakkal and Rs 39.14 crore for Dharmapuri.
Similarly, it is estimated that to build Kancheepuram and Mayiladuthurai bus stands, a sum of `38 crore is required while for Tiruvanamalai it will cost `30 crore. The cost of Thirutani and Tindivanam bus stands is expected at Rs 20 crore.While the government has approved the proposal, it has asked the Commissioner of Municipal Administration to get approval from the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board for project structuring and bid documents.