NT NETWORK
MAPUSA: After a long delay, the process for constructing a new bus stand in Mapusa has finally taken off.
A Power Point presentation was held on the new bus stand by the consultant Rahul Deshpande at the Mapusa municipality in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, various councillors and social activists.
Mapusa municipal council chairperson Sandip Falari said that after this stage – wherein a rough drawing has been presented to the people of Mapusa for their views and suggestions – actual plan would be drawn up and presented to the Mapusa municipality and subsequently to the transport department after which the estimates, tendering process etc would be worked out.
When asked as to why the project got delayed so much, Deshpande said the main reason has been that the proposed site for the new bus stand had been shown as a parking zone in the Mapusa ODP.
The process has begun to categorise the area where the existing bus stand is located as a parking zone and designate the site of the new bus stand as ‘bus stand area’.
“The new bus stand has been planned to cater to the public transport system in Mapusa at least for the next 25 years. We have taken into account movement of traffic and all possible factors,” he said.
It is learnt that an area of 20,680 has been acquired for the project and the state-of-the-art bus stand designed.
There will be a network of roads for smooth entry and exit of buses, besides service lanes. The new bus stand will be connected to the NH-17 by means of a 25-metre-wide road, which will help reduce congestion in the town.
There will also be footpaths and shelters to facilitate boarding of light vehicles.
The new bus stand complex will have offices, shopping complex, food court, multiplex, supermarket and a departmental store.
A multi-level car parking facility will have capacity for 600 cars with a total parking capacity in the complex being 1050 for two-wheeler parking and 850 for cars.
There will be around 60 interstate and intrastate bus-bays and another 36 idle-bays for any contingency.