Kilambakkam bus terminus will be functional in 2 years: O Panneerselvam

Chennai: Nudging officials to start work on the long pending Kilambakkam bus terminus, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who is also the housing minister, conducted an inspection of the site on Thursday evening.

“The new bus stand that would cater to the southbound buses will be coming up on 88.52-acre land. The detailed project report will be completed in two months and construction will be completed in two years,” Panneerselvam told media persons after the inspection.

According to CMDA officials, the bus stand near Vandalur would cost Rs 321 crore and would accommodate 250 buses every day. “Moreover, nearly 300 spare buses could be parked in the bus stand,” one of the officials said.

CMDA also plans to construct an MTC bus stand on five acres of land to operate link services to CMBT and to other parts of the city. The new bus stand would also accommodate 275 cars and 3,582 two-wheelers apart from housing a police station and a water purification centre among other facilities. “The bus stand will also have escalators to help differently-abled and elderly passengers,” the official said.

CMDA is expected to obtain no objection certificate (NOC) from Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to construct the bus stand. “We have applied for the NOC. Since norms allow the construction activity near the particular archaeological site, the NOC will be given, hopefully,” the CMDA official said. An objection from ASI has been one of the roadblocks impeding the Kilambakkam bus stand, apart from anomalies in land acquisition.