CHENNAI: With a recent Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) study pegging the number of additional bus depots required in Chennai by the year 2034, to between 30 and 40, the transport department has begun scouting for land parcels in Outer Ring Road for constructing new depots.
The study was taken up to identify the requirements for MTC in comparison to the expected growth of the Chennai metropolitan area. It is estimated that the MTC would need a minimum fleet of 7,678 buses (addition of over 3,200 buses) by 2032, and to facilitate all these vehicles, the city would need 30 to 40 more bus depots. The MTC at present has 32 depots with an average parking capacity of 100 buses.
Official sources said 180 to 200 acres of land may be needed to construct the new depots. “The transport department has written to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to allocate its land in around 10 villages situated along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) for the construction. It would be easy for the corporation to feed buses from here to the new Kilambakkam bus terminus as well as the soon-to-be-inaugurated Kuthambakkam terminus,” they added.
For this purpose, the department has already identified land plots in Varadarajapuram, Erumaiyur, Thirumudivakkam, Kundrathur, Thukanapattu, Vayanallur, Morai, Athanthangal, Seemapuram and other villages. A joint inspection was taken up on these plots last month by the MTC and CMDA.
Acknowledging that Chennai’s future growth will be along the ORR, the state government has already hired a consultant to prepare a blueprint for developing a one-km stretch on either side of the ORR. The city is already growing towards the Old Mahabalipuram Road, GST Road and the National Highway-4, where a shortage of land for large-scale developments may be witnessed.
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