City to get 3 more bus stations

City to get 3 more bus stations
BY R. JAYAPRAKASH
BENGALURU



By February 2009, Bengaluru will see Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation move its entire inter-city and inter-state bus services out of Majestic to three locations — Peenya in the west, Mysore Road in the south and Byappanahalli in the east.

The decision, taken earlier this week at a crucial meeting of Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) and transport department officials under the chairmanship of transport minister R. Ashok, was made in the backdrop of KSRTC handing over 20 acres of its Subhash Nagar property to BMRC for its all-important interchange underground station.

The issue of where the KSRTC will house the five depots that carry out the maintenance and repairs of over 6,000 buses still remains unresolved.

Transport department sources told Deccan Chronicle that a master plan has already been drawn but the state government has not yet suggested an alternative site for the depots. “While the BMRC will buy seven acres of prime land from KSRTC at an approximate cost of Rs 250 crore along the guideline value, the KSRTC will buy 20 acres from BMRC in two locations, one at Biayappanahalli and Peenya Namma Metro stations. We are contemplating on decentralising the services into three satellite stations.

This will help decongest the city traffic as the bus movement can be restricted to outer areas of the city. We are working on a concrete plan to divide the services. While buses plying to Mysore and Kerala and South Karnataka will be shifted to Mysore Road, buses plying towards Tumkur, North and Western Karnataka, and Maharashtra can be operated from Peenya. The Biayappanahalli satellite station can be used for buses plying towards Kolar, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,” sources said.

The KSRTC will carry out the transition to new stations in a phased manner. With the authority running out of time, the challenge it has on hand is Herculean, officials said. “We have to give land by February and we have agreed to it. Documentation work for transfer of land, master plan, traffic plan and detailed project report are underway. The meeting was fruitful and we don't see any conflict of interest as it is mutually beneficial. Passengers may be affected initially, but we will ensure that all the logistics are in place well before the shift,” transport officials said.