Madhwaraj lays foundation for JnNURM bus stand in Udupi

District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj said the temple town of Udupi will be offered five sophisticated bus stands in a year at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the JnNURM bus stand, built at a cost of Rs 4 crore, the minister said that the approval for the constructing sophisticated KSRTC bus stop at Bannanje has been okayed.

The bus stand will come up in a three-acre area and built at a cost of Rs 3 crore. He said the JnNURM bus stand will be available to the public despite the heavy pressure from the private bus owners.

The concern towards the public and students travelling from distant, remote areas will be the top-most priority. Hence, any attempt to pressure the government by the private bus owners would be a failure, the minister said. He added that Rs 10 crore will be spent on constructing three city bus stands at Manipal, Malpe and Udupi.

Madhwaraj said that the people from rural areas, senior citizens and students are most benefited from JnNURM buses. The city bus stand built at the cost of Rs 4 crore will have three storeys, where 10 buses can be accommodated at a time. As many as 10 cars could be parked in the area. Besides, nine commercial complexes will be built in the area. The work will be completed in 10 months, he assured.

Speaking on the occasion, Byndoor MLA and KSRTC chairman Gopal Poojary said that tender for Udupi city bus stand will be invited in another three days. In the district, there are 87 licenses pending for giving the timing and another 63 licenses pending for the approval. As many as 44 buses are functioning. The KSRTC is purchasing 1,800 buses and 1,000 old buses have been changed.

He maintained that the Udupi-Mangaluru division is given 11 Volvo buses. In Karkala, if there is an appropriate place to set up the depot, the KSRTC will immediately act upon the idea.

A sum of Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for the construction of a depot in Byndoor. If the depots are set up at Byndoor and Karkala, Udupi will be made into a separate division. He also assured to offer buses to all rural area routes. The buses for Kundapur-Hosnagar-Shivamogga route and Kundapur-Hosangadi- Shivamogga will be offered at the earliest.

DH News Service