Mangalore: Highway Widening - Transport Hub Plan at Pumpwell Faces Threat

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Jun 15: The ambitious project of building a central bus stand-cum-transportation hub at Pumpwell in the city is facing the threat of being derailed from unexpected quarters. The project, which is being executed at a fast pace, envisages building of a bus stand for private buses in the initial stages, followed by KSRTC bus stand, shopping centres, offices, and other basic infrastructure in due course.

The hub will come up in 18 acres of land, of which 7.23 acre of land has already been acquired by private parties. The land is being levelled to pave way for the shifting of the private bus stand, both city and intra-city. There is a need to acquire additional 11 acres of land, and the process is on. The proposed hub is also convenient, as it is located near three national highways and lies equidistance from the two railway stations in the city.
 
The National Highways Authority India, which seemed to be in a slumber till now, has suddenly propped up a plan to acquire 60 metres of land at the spot for widening of the highway, which is proposed to be brought to the level of the national highway through landfill. However, the city corporation feels that this proposal jeopardises its plans, as buses may not be able to approach the bus stand from such a height.

Superintending engineer of Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project, which is providing technical advice for the project, opines that the proposed hub will go waste if the highway authorities raise the height of the land in question, as buses and other vehicles will be left with no approach road to the proposed hub. In turn, he has advised the authority to build a protective wall on roadside instead of landfill.

The highway authorities say that they plan to develop the road on build-operate-transfer model, and bringing changes to the original plan might affect the speed of vehicles and violate authority’s rules and regulations. It has also stipulated that the city corporation should be prepared to bear the expenses connected with changing of the design, if the changes are accepted. The city corporation is not financially sound enough to foot this bill, it is gathered.

The highway work has gained momentum now. Unless urgent action is undertaken to do something in this direction, the proposed transport hub may not see the light of the day, citizens fear. Any delay will be detrimental to the interests to this ambitious plan, which promises to ease the traffic congestion in the central parts of the city.