The bus station to be built on seven acres in the next 18 months will have all modern facilities. The project will be executed by IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects Limited, said Managing Director Gaurav Gupta.
Addressing mediapersons Transport Minister R Ashoka said: “We will have separate terminals similar to railway station platforms and proper communication systems that can direct people to right places to board buses.”
Stating that the idea of establishing a satellite bus station was to reduce the mounting pressure on Kempe Gowda Bus Station, the minister pointed out that as many as nine lakh passengers come to Majestic bus stand every day.
The number goes up to as many as 15 lakh passengers during festivals, he said.
Ideal location
As nearly 60 per cent of long- distance buses travel via Tumkur, Peenya is an ideal location for a satellite bus station, said Ashoka.
“Moreover, we have identified land in Byappanahalli, Hebbal and Kanakapura for setting up satellite bus stations,” he said.
The State government has also identified about 40 acres of land parallel to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) road for building another satellite bus station. Also, Rs 40 crore has been sanctioned to the Bangalore Development Authority towards its construction, the minister said.
More buses
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation has announced that it will operate an additional 1,100 buses on Ugadi.
Special buses will be operated from Bangalore to Dharmastala, Kukke Subramanya, Shimoga, Hassan, Mangalore, Kundapura, Sringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubli, Dharwad, Belgaum, Bijapur, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Gulbarga, Bellary, Koppal, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupati and other places.
Eco-friendly initiative
On KSRTC’s initiative to use bio-diesel, in order to decrease the dependency on conventional forms of fuel and also to reduce pollution, Transport Minister Ashoka said there was a strong oil lobby in the country opposing the move.
“Even if people want to change over to eco-friendly methods to conserve natural resources, the lobby prevents them implementing it,” he said.