Shantinagar bus stand will buzz with life soon

50 ROUTES PLANNED
Shantinagar bus stand will buzz with life soon
Deccan Herald

The sprawling BMTC bus stand in Shantinagar on KH Road, that hitherto wore a deserted look, will soon be seen bustling with activity.

As of now, the bus stand is mainly limited to South Bangalore-bound routes. The buses that ply on this route connect Shivajinagar, Richmond Road, Residency Road and M G Road, to areas in South Bangalore such as Jayanagar, Koramangala and Banashankari. Presently this bus stand is the starting point for only 12 routes, but within the next three months, the BMTC is planning to increase the number of routes to 50.

“We are looking at improving connectivity to all locations from this junction. The new routes will extend to places like Bannerghatta Road, Hosur Road and Sarjapur Road on one end, to Indiranagar, Airport Road, Mysore Road and Majestic on the other,” revealed Dastagir Sharief, Chief Traffic Manager, BMTC.

In fact, the bus stand will only get busier when the construction of Kalasipalyam bus stand begins, which is likely in April. According to BMTC Managing Director Upendra Tripathi, all routes in the Southern Bangalore sector will originate from Shanthinagar instead of City Market, once the work begins.

Kalasipalyam

According to BMP Chief Engineer (Projects) Ranganath, the proposal of renovating Kalasipalyam bus stand under private-public partnership model, that was mooted and cleared by the BMP in November 2005, is now before the government for clearance. “The proposal was expected to be cleared in January-end, but has been delayed because of political instability. We now expect the proposal to be cleared by March. And, construction work will begin in April,” Ranganath said.