Develop the present Sub-Urban Bus Stand instead of shifting it to Bannimantap
- Bannimantap is not a people-friendly location.
- The new Bannimantap location will create Traffic congestion and chaos in the area used for Dasara activities.
- Present location can be developed with the vacant land available contiguous to it.
- Imaginative and creative planning and execution of the present Sub-Urban Bus Stand by expert architects and urban planners is possible.
The Government’s decision to establish a new Urban Bus Stand at Bannimantap at a cost of about Rs. 120 crore has already roused controversy among the stakeholders. The latest one to protest against the location of the new Bus Stand has come from the Mysuru KSRTC Sub-Urban Bus Stand Ulisi Horata Samithi (Committee to save the existing Sub-Urban Bus Stand) which wants Sub-Urban Bus Stand to remain where it is by expanding it with the available land around and a new modern architectural plan.
In a letter written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Samithi has explained in detail the reasons for retaining the location of the Sub-Urban Bus Stand where it has been since 1984.
This Bus Stand was reconstructed around 2007-08 under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) Project along with other new Urban Bus Stands at 1. Sathagalli, 2. Naidu Nagar, 3. City Bus Stand, 4. Kuvempunagar and 5. Yelwal at a cost of Rs. 130 crore.
Unfortunately for reasons unknown, among these bus stands constructed 17 years ago under the NuRM project, only City Bus Stand at K.R. Circle and the Sub-Urban Bus Stand on Bengaluru-Nilgiri Road opposite to the People’s Park are operational. All other bus stands are not being put to use at all except probably the Yelwal Bus Stand. The other bus stands with the buildings are being rented out to private companies and for commercial purposes.
No doubt, Mysuru city has grown over the years with the present population at 12 lakhs. In the circumstances, the existing Sub-Urban Bus Stands at Naidunagar, Kuvempunagar and Sathagalli could be used and made operational as Satellite Sub-Urban Bus Stands as in Bengaluru to take away the pressure on the main present Sub-Urban Bus Stand. This will serve the people of Srirangapatna, Bannur, Malavalli, T. Narasipur, Nanjangud and H.D. Kote. This will ease the pressure and avoid congestion in the present Sub-Urban Bus Stand.
In any case, the choice of Bannimantap for the new Sub-Urban Bus Stand is fraught with many problems for stakeholders who are the users of buses that will be operated from this location.
The main stakeholders of the Sub-Urban Bus Stand are 1. General public, 2. College students, 3. Patients who go to hospitals, 4. Those who travel by train to other places, 5. Farmers from villages, 6. Those who want to visit the Revenue Offices like of the Deputy Commissioner, Tahsildar etc., 7. Government employees and more importantly the tourists. These stakeholders would like to have the public transport system like the Sub-Urban Bus Stand at a centrally located place like the one we have opposite to the People’s Park on Bengaluru- Nilgiri Road.
The present Sub-Urban Bus Stand is ideally located, as all the places the stakeholders would want to visit are at equi-distance. As such from the bus stand it will not cost much money to take an autorickshaw or a taxi to the stakeholders’ destinations nor much time. It is universally accepted that all government offices including public transport should be such that the members of the public should not be put to inconvenience and extra expense.
Bannimantap, the location chosen for the new Sub-Urban Bus Stand, is certainly not a public-friendly location for reasons that have already been published in the Mysuru local newspapers. As for the population, it is only about 15 percent of the city’s population that reside in the North of Mysuru where Bannimantap is located.
The density of population is about 85 per cent towards the South, East and Western part of the city. Most of the government offices, the Zoo, the Palace, Chamundi Hill, Devaraja Market, K.R. Hospital, City Railway Station, educational institutions and even the City Bus Stand are all within 2 kms distance from the present location of the Sub-Urban Bus Stand.
Now the question is how can the present Sub-Urban Bus Stand located in an area of 5-acre be developed to meet the future growth of Mysuru for another 50 years. All things considered, it is possible if the government examines the lands available around this bus stand.
According to the Samithi, there are plenty of lands available in the People’s Park and also the Government Guest House which is abutting to the Bengaluru-Nilgiri Road. Already, the People’s Park has been encroached upon by a Public Library, Trin Trin Bicycle Stand, Tonga Stand, MCC Vehicle Parking Area, Taxi Stand, Indira Canteen and a College. Still about 15 acres of vacant land is available at the People’s Park.
With so much of land available, contiguous to the present Sub-Urban Bus Stand, the government should consider utilising these vacant lands for developing the Sub-Urban Bus Stand to accommodate more than 2,000 buses daily as is planned now. All that is required is a good team of architects and planners with imagination and experience in urban planning which will include planning underground tunnels to provide vehicular connectivity to important places — like City Railway Station, Mysore Palace, City Bus Stand, K.R. Hospital and the like.
The Samithi in its letter to CM Siddaramaiah has requested him to abandon the Bannimantap location for the project by cancelling the tender that has already been floated and prepare a new Detailed Project Report (DPR) for developing the present Sub-Urban Bus Stand on the lands the Samithi has detailed in its letter.
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