Despite having a building of their own, these offices under the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) in the city are all set to shift to another location. In the ten-storeyed building, the Trans Towers at Vazhuthacaud, the MVD functions only on two floors and now the office of the Deputy Transport Commissioner and the control room functioning here are being asked to move.
It was in 2003 that the Motor Vehicles Department had given 50 cents of land to Kerala Transport Development Financial Corporation (KTDFC) to construct the Trans Towers on BOT basis. As per the agreement, KTDFC was supposed to hand over the building to MVD once it collected the total cost of the project which was said to be Rs 7 crore.
In fact, the KTDFC had completed the construction of the Trans Towers in 2006. Even after seven years, it has not handed over the building to MVD, which still functions in various rented buildings in the city.
When contacted, some of the officials at the KTDFC said that the financial corporation had to spend an amount much more than Rs 7 crore for the completion of the project.
However, according to MVD officials, KTDFC has made a considerable amount of money from Trans Towers during these years. To reclaim the building, the MVD has to give the remaining amount, they said.
“The office of the Deputy Transport Commissioner and the Traffic Control Room that are currently functioning here will soon be shifted to Civil Station at Kudappanakkunnu owing to space constraints,” said Joint Transport Commissioner Alex Paul. “We will have to wait several more years to get the possession of the entire building,” he added.
At present, only the head office of the MVD is functioning in the Trans Towers, where the department occupies only the first and second floors of the ten-storeyed building. Even the Regional Transport Office currently functions in the KSRTC building at East Fort.
MVD officials said that having a full-fledged control room and an office in the heart of the city offers so many advantages, which are now set to be lost.