COIMBATORE: Members of the Vellalore Integrated Bus Terminal (IBT) revival committee have demanded that the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) resume the IBT project work put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Replying to a letter sent by the Vellalore IBT revival committee functionaries, the CCMC said they have completed around 37 per cent of the IBT construction work and are awaiting the state government’s share of funds.
The IBT project comprising a mofussil bus stand, omnibus stand, and a town bus stand was proposed in 2019 on 61.81 acres of land in Vellalore for Rs 168 crore by the AIADMK government. Though the foundation stone for this project was laid by then Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani in January 2020, the work was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, it was completely stopped after the DMK government came to power.
Though the project was said to be executed with 50 per cent of the state government funds and 50 per cent civic bout funds, the civic body had applied for a loan from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), which was later turned down by the latter citing issues in land ownership. Later, in 2021, the corporation submitted a loan application with the Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDCO) which is still pending.
After the project came to a screeching halt, no steps were taken by the CCMC and the government to resume the IBT project works. In this situation, social activists and local people from the town formed a Vellalore IBT revival committee and started demanding the government resume the project. They also sent a letter to the CCMC urging the civic body to immediately resume the work considering the welfare of the people.
K S Mohan, Vellalore IBT revival committee coordinator, told TNIE, “We have been waiting a long time for the government to resume the project in our town. Owing to the presence of the city’s dump yard, people have been suffering both financially as well as physically. If a project like IBT is implemented, the livelihood of the city would improve significantly and there are chances of the government gradually getting rid of the dump yard from here. People here are also ready to pool in money and finish the project soon under the Namakku Naame project. We have also submitted a letter to the CCMC requesting them to accept our offer. However, all our demands have been falling on deaf ears.”
Replying to the committee’s letter, the CCMC chief engineer said that the government is yet to release their share of the fund which is Rs 84 crore and so far the CCMC has completed about 37 per cent of the construction work and spent Rs 52.46 crore for the project.
M Sivaguru Prabakaran, CCMC Commissioner, told TNIE, “We have sent a report to the state government along with the suggestions made by the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) as they studied the project work. The government is yet to decide about the project work and we will take a final call after receiving an official order from the government. I will check the letter sent by the committee regarding their contribution and decide on it soon.”