missing the bus - Making a ‘Majestic’ mess

missing the bus - Making a ‘Majestic’ mess
BY R. JAYAPRAKASH
BENGALURU







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The year 2009 will spell a lot of inconvenience for commuters. Beginning February next year, Subhashnagar bus stand, the transport hub of the IT city, will be shut down for metro rail work and the whole area will be cordoned off for a minimum of two years.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) are brainstorming over drawing up a master plan for the mega operation that will facilitate smooth shifting of the entire bus services from the Majestic area to an alternate location.

According to the working plan of the BMRCL, the rail corporation will take over 20 acres of the main bus stand area before February so that they can start underground work. The Majestic terminal of Namma Metro will see trains from two different corridors criss-crossing each other 30 metres below the surface level.

Gaurav Gupta, managing director of KSRTC, confirmed the news to Deccan Chronicle. “It’s true that we have to shift our entire operations from Majestic. Right now, all the three transport corporations are coordinating to work out a plan. On Monday, transport minister R. Ashok will chair a crucial meeting which will see top officials of BMRC, KSRTC, BMTC and urban development department participating. Since he is also the districtin-charge minister, he will play a key role here,” Mr Gupta said.

“This will be one of the biggest challenges in the history of all three transport corporations. Apart from our shuttle services, there are five major bus depots here which will also have to be re-located. These depots carry out maintenance and repair work,” he said. The Majestic bus stand is used by over 10 lakh commuters as it facilitates intracity, inter-city and interstate bus operation. Over 6,000 buses ply in and out of this bus stand.

On being queried on which is the alternate location, Mr Gupta, the managing director of KSRTC, he said it had not yet been decided. “We have Mysore Road Satellite bus station. That apart, we don’t have land as of now. We have joined hands with BMRC and they have promised to give us land in two of the depots, one at Yeshwanthpur and the other at Biayappanahalli. But this isn’t adequate so we have written to the government to provide us more land in suitable locations. The metro rail work will also affect traffic movement as the whole area will be cordoned off for at least two years. We are going to use this opportunity to modernise our Majestic bus stand which is long overdue. That of course will come in once we have concrete plans in place,” he said.

The metro rail work will have its effect on traffic movement too. Majestic is a crucial link that connects many ends of the city. Therefore, traffic police will be involved in the next stage to draw up a master plan. “We cannot ignore the fact that it is an important segment that connects northern and eastern sector of the city to western and southern sectors,” Mr Gupta said.

The BMRCL has a major task cut out. Apart from facing engineering challenges of constructing one of the deepest train intersection stations in the country, it has to provide facilities for passenger movement especially for those who intend to change trains from NorthSouth corridor trains to East-west corridor or vice versa.

BMRCL managing director N. Sivasailam told Deccan Chronicle that it was very important that all the three corporations work in tandem and expedite the shifting as soon as possible. “The Majestic station is the most important one for Namma Metro. Without this being readied, we can’t even think of starting our operations. It will take us 24 months to complete the work in Majestic, this being the case we have to start the spadework now. We have to excavate 1.07 lakh metric tonnes of earth to create this station and around 500 trucks will be used to transport the earth out of the site area every day. It’s a Herculean task,” Mr Sivasailam said.