ICBT Miyapur plan gets new lease of life
Even though tenders were finalised in May 2015, the private agency that took up the project did not submit bank guarantee till 2017
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has revived the Inter City Bus Terminal (ICBT) project at Miyapur, three years after shelving it.
Once the ICBT is constructed, the authorities have also hinted that the HMDA would either lease the Imliban land where the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station is located, or auction it for development of the city.
There exist problems, though. KRR Infra, the agency that bagged the project, did not submit the bank guarantee for Rs 14.8 crore in the stipulated time. It approached court when HMDA decided to re-invite tenders.
Even though the tenders were finalised in May 2015, the private agency that took up the project did not submit bank guarantee in order to execute the project until 2017. The case has been hanging since then.
Citing this, the HMDA had decided to construct the ICBT at five different locations to cater to the inter-city transportation needs. It has zeroed in on five sites to construct bus terminals alongside National Highways.
Out of five locations the HMDA had identified, one is spread over 108 acres in Manoharabad on the Hyderabad-Nagpur Highway, another of 20 acres in Pedda Amberpet and another being the 60 acres in Shamshabad, while the idea is to pool land in other two locations. Surprisingly, the proposals did not move an inch forward since 2018.
An HMDA official said the municipal authority has been negotiating with the private agency either to withdraw the pending case or go ahead with the proposed project to meet the transportation needs of the city.
The MGBS at Imlibun has reached its saturation point. Meetings would be held with the private agency to either take up the project or withdraw the pending case so that the HMDA could re-invite tenders and go ahead with the project under public–private partnership (PPP) mode.
"As per the old proposal, ICBT was to be constructed over a 1-lakh sq ft built up area for the passenger terminal, with 200 bus bays and platform for outstation buses, bus parking for 1,000 buses, 30 bus bays for city buses, two fuel filling stations including CNG, four vehicle service centres, office space for administrative purposes and office space for bus operators.
However, keeping the ever-growing needs of the city, the proposal would be revised to have sophisticated facilities that cater to the transportation needs for at least 30 years.
“We have already re-inspected the proposed site and HMDA would use about 50 acres of land in Miyapur for ICBT and other related projects," the official said.