Thiruvananthapuram: Shopping complexes are passé, says the new Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) chairman Jayan Babu.
Speaking to DC, he said, “TRIDA has focussed on building shopping complexes.
But this is the age of malls. No one has come forward to rent a shop at the complex in Thampanoor, despite it being a busy area. This should serve as a lesson.” One of the first projects that TRIDA will take forward, under the new Chairman is a parking plaza at Palayam. “This is one of the projects initiated during the previous government. As per records, the project has administrative sanction and funds have been allotted. But the tender process is yet to begin. It was stalled, as TRIDA was without a chairman for months,” he said.
The parking plaza will come up in the 6.5 acres owned by TRIDA along the road from VJT Hall towards Jubilee hospital. Incidentally he joined a day after the government decided to cancel the order transferring 2 acres of Government Central High School, Attakkulangara land to TRIDA. When asked about solving traffic snarls in East Fort area, he said that TRIDA had no role now; it was upto the state government.
TRIDA owns over 6 acres of land at Erumakkuzhy. “We will think of a concept where the land will become useful for people and also generates revenue for
TRIDA. This morning someone asked me why not use it as a parking place for hi-tech buses, which currently cause traffic issues. But nothing concrete
yet,” he said.
