DHARMAPURI: As the plan to construct a bus stand in Dharmapuri town remains on paper, residents urged the district administration to ensure the speedy construction of the new bus stand that was announced by the state government a few years ago. The demand for a new bus stand in Dharmapuri has existed for close to a decade. In 2013, a proposal was sent from the Dharmapuri district administration to the state government seeking a new bus stand under a public-private partnership. However, it was only in 2018 that the government announced a new bus stand. However, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the plan and tender proceedings were delayed.
Meanwhile, due to the delay in the construction, a person filed a PIL at the Madras High Court in 2023. The court directed the municipality to hasten the construction process in four months. As per a high court directive, the municipality passed a resolution allocating the work order to a private construction company from Perambalur. Now with only the construction pending, residents in the town requested there be no delays and begin work immediately. Speaking to TNIE, R Murugesan, a resident from Dharmapuri, said, “It has been 10 years since the talks for a new bus stand began. The present bus stand is located in the heart of the town. The narrow roads here lead to severe traffic congestion and encroachments also add to the problem. The relocation of the bus stand was necessary, but the pandemic delayed the proceeding. Now that everything has been finalised we hope there are no more delays.”
The tender proceedings were completed in 2023.
Another resident, N Anandhan Natarajan, said, “The Municipality is now taking steps to expand its limits by adding 10 panchayats in the surrounding areas. This shows that the municipality is growing. It is normal for new infrastructure to accommodate the expansion. So delaying the construction will affect the development. Even now, it has come to this stage only because of the court’s direction, otherwise it could have been delayed further.”
Municipal officials said they did not want to comment on the new bus stand. Municipal Commissioner Bhuvaneshwaran could not be contacted as TNIE tried to get a response.