Uncertainty continues over integrated bus terminal at Pumpwell

The integrated bus terminal, proposed at Pumpwell with the main objective of easing traffic congestion on arterial roads of Mangaluru, has not become a reality even after the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) approved the construction of a state-of-the-art bus stand for private buses on 7.23 acres of land at Pumpwell, way back in 2014.

Initially, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) was asked to submit a detailed project report (DPR) for the project. KUIDFC submitted the DPR proposing to build a two-storied bus stand with parking facilities for 66 buses on 4.5 acres of land. But, the DPR was rejected as it failed to meet the MCC’s requirement of providing parking facilities to 150 buses.

After Mangaluru was selected under Smart City Mission, officials decided to revive the project under Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL).

As the dilly-dallying over the proposal continued, former mayor and Congress Corporator M Shashidhar Hegde urged the MCC to drop the proposal on developing the transport hub in Pumpwell.

He has urged MCC to identify new land in order to build a bus stand for private buses.

“It is more than a decade and we are still stuck with the proposal to build bus stand at Pumpwell. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had declared that it is not feasible to build a transport hub near NH 66 at Pumpwell. The flyover at Pumpwell also acts as a hindrance in developing a proper road to the proposed site,” said Hegde.

MCC Mayor Premananda Shetty says developers declined to take up the project on the PPP model.

Satellite bus stands

As none of the bidders had come forward to build the integrated bus terminal, Minister for Urban Development Byrathi Basavaraj had suggested building four satellite bus stations.

“Instead of spending Rs 490 crore on one integrated transport hub, it is better to build four separate bus stations in different locations of the city,” the minister had said.

MLA D Vedavyas Kamath says the cabinet had approved bus terminus on PPP mode in May 2020.

Incidentally, tenders were floated as many as three times, but none of the bidders had evinced interest in the bus project.

Now, MSCL is planning to implement the project with a new design and a revised project cost. The project cost will be reduced from Rs 490 crore to Rs 100 crore and the revised project will be placed again before the Cabinet for approval, said MLA Vedavyas Kamath.

New bus stand story dates back to 1994

That Mangaluru needed a new bus stand was first mooted by the then Deputy Commissioner Bharatlal Meena as early as 1994.

Sites for bus stands were identified in Kottara Chowki, for buses arriving from Udupi side, and at Mallikatta, for buses from Moodbidri and Karkala and from Bantwal.

The central bus stand was planned in Karangalpady after the district sub-jail was shifted to the city’s outskirts.

The then Commissioner of MCC J R Lobo had identified a site for the central bus stand near Mahaveera Circle.

Though Lobo and former mayors Devanna Shetty, Ramesh Kotian and Hilda Alva were keen on building a decentralised bus stand, the proposal got shelved as MCC did not show any interest in the project.