Integrated bus terminal for Trichy still a dream

The long-standing demand for an integrated bus terminal for Trichy still seems a mirage as the corporation in its 2013-14 budget meeting vaguely mentioned that "an appropriate place would be selected for the purpose." Though an appropriate place has not been selected as yet, the corporation on Monday claimed that "preparations are on to make the terminal a highly modern one."
A top government officer said that half of the criminal activities in the city could be controlled, if there had been an integrated bus terminal, most likely on the outskirts of the city. Whenever there was a proposal to identify land for the construction of the proposed bus terminal on the lines of Madurai and Tirunelveli, the Trichy political class vied with one another to buy land in the vicinity with the escalation of real estate rates in mind. No one was really interested in getting a bus terminal for the city, the officer added.

The DMK during its last regime identified a place in Panjappur and the proposal was sent for approval by the government, but it was vetoed on the ground that there was no environmental clearance. The Congress had its own interests in mind and they identified a place called Devanatham in Sanjeev Nagar in Srirangam taluk on the bank of Cauvery. But this proposal too was shelved on the grounds that waste from the bus terminal would pollute the Cauvery.
To make matters worse, the hoteliers and restaurant owners around the Central bus stand, the bane of all traffic woes, were said to be behind a silent campaign to veto the idea of shifting the present bus stand for obvious reasons. The corporation then toyed with the idea of constructing a bus terminal at Mannarpuram near K K Nagar over a 100 acre of land, but since the land belonged to defence, nothing further could be done.
The leader of the house in the corporation, M Anbazhagan told TOI, "Precisely for this reason, we walked out. Not only the bus terminal, no effort was taken for improving the health services and also for improving the drinking water purposes."