BHUBANESWAR:Modernisation of Baramunda bust stand in the city into an inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) will be completed by 2019 end.With the work scheduled to begin by the end of June, it has been targeted to finish it within 15 months, said vice-chairman of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) Krishan Kumar after a review meeting here.
The concept design of the proposed bus terminus has been prepared by Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS), which had won the bid for the architectural design and market assessment studies of the ISBT at Baramunda, during September last year.Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, who reviewed the progress of the project at a high level meeting here, asked BDA to finalise the tender and execute contract agreement with the successful bidder by June end.
The state-of-the-art bus terminal estimated to cost `180 crore will be built over 15 acres, out of which four acres have been earmarked for commercial purposes. The project will be implemented in EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract mode.
While 40 per cent of the project cost will be funded by the State Government, another 40 per cent will be taken as loan from Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (OUIDF). The remaining 20 per cent of the project cost will be sourced from BDA’s CDP Infrastructure Development Fund (CIDF), Kumar said.
Keeping convenience of the passengers in mind, it was decided that the bust stand will function for passenger pick-up and drop-off during the construction period. However, long-route buses making night halt at Baramunda will have to park at a place identified near Khandagiri. This will function as a temporary bus stand till the ISBT is ready, official sources said.
The terminal will be spread across 9,839 square metres and the ground floor would cover 4,343 square metres. The entire terminal will be built over 5,496 square metres. Similarly, the commercial area will be built over 21,350 square metres having ground and five floors. The commercial area would have a basement parking spread across 9,000 square metres and a capacity of 300 equivalent car space (ECS).
More than 1,000 buses are using the terminal daily and it is a transport lifeline for thousands of commuters. The site is well connected with the nearby NH-16 with two wide and accessible roads.