THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The earlier the better is the ‘mantra’ Minister for Transport Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan believes in, at least in the case of the KSRTC bus terminal at Thampanoor.
The terminal, a Rs 240-crore project officially inaugurated in February, still remains a ‘monument’ as it has not become fully operational owing to the unfinished work. The Minister, who paid a visit to the terminal to assess the progress of the work on Thursday, told reporters that the remaining work would be completed before the arrival of the monsoon.
‘’The earlier, the better,” was his reply to a query on when the work would be finished. Then one of the reporters sarcastically reminded him that the monsoon was expected to arrive on June 1 as per the prediction of the Meteorology Department. “The early the best could also be before the monsoon,” was the response of the Minister.
The ‘optimistic’ Minister expects to complete works amounting to Rs 23 crore before the monsoon. While the Rs 23-crore project work has been pending under the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), there are also other works that remain unfinished by the Kerala Road Fund Board and the KSRTC itself in the terminal.
“A joint meeting of the officials of the KSUDP, KSRTC and Kerala Road Fund Board will be convened next week. KSUDP will be asked to complete the work at the entrance of the bus bay to address the issue of waterlogging. Four stay orders obtained by the shop owners near the entrance of the bus bay have been vacated so that shops can be removed soon. Only two more stay orders are remaining,” the Minister said.
The earlier the better, Mr Minister.