THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After much hue and cry, the Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (Trida) has decided to forgo 35 cents of the total two acres allotted by the state government to set up a bus terminal-cum-shopping complex to ensure that the school has enough land complying with the Kerala Education Act.
As per records, the school has around 5.5 acres of land, but a recent survey revealed that there is only 4.65 acres. A top official of Trida said that the authority had decided to bring in changes in the current design of the project.
“We have only 1.65 acres now and it’s inadequate for both the bus terminal and the shopping complex. Hence, we have decided to construct the shopping space over the bus terminal. We plan to relocate the scattered bus stops at East Fort region which is putting the life of pedestrians at stake. We are finalising the design of the bus terminal and the work will begin soon,” said the official.
The school authorities had asked Trida to earmark three acres of the total land for the school and construct a multi-storeyed complex.
The plan is to construct two storeys over the bus terminal and the project is estimated to cost around Rs 30 crore.
“We cannot construct a structure beyond nine metres as it’s a heritage zone. We want to kick off the work of the bus terminal soon. The government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore and we are hoping to restrict the cost to Rs 22 crore,” said the official. A meeting will be held soon with those who are raising objections.
