Not Island Grounds, temporary Broadway bus stand to now be built near Royapuram NRT bridge

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has decided to temporarily relocate the Broadway bus terminus to Chennai Port Trust land near the NRT bridge at Royapuram. The decision has been taken given the upcoming construction of a multi-modal facility in Broadway which will integrate the MTC bus terminus and Kuralagam building, a project undertaken by the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL).

Tenders have been floated for various works at the temporary bus stand in north Chennai, at an estimated cost of Rs 3.42 crore. The bid opening date is on November 5. The local body will hand over the Broadway bus stand to the CMRL by November end.

Initially, the temporary Broadway bus terminus was planned to be shifted to Island Grounds, however, the decision has been revoked as the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is set to carry out development works there for Rs 60 crore. Also, the city corporation had passed a resolution to set up a riverside park near the same grounds. If the temporary bus terminus had come up there, these developmental works would have been affected. Hence, the terminus will be relocated to near the Royapuram NRT bridge as a temporary alternative.

Sharing more details about the terminus, GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran said, "The Chennai Port Trust land is spread 7 acres, which will be rented by the corporation. Various developmental works including construction of footpaths, cabin offices, and toilets, among other facilities, will be taken up at the site, at an estimated cost of Rs 3.42 crore."

He also pointed out that as many as 50 families and 250 shops have encroached on the Broadway bus stand land, and that a biometric authentication process is under way to relocate them.

Meanwhile, the CMRL has requested the GCC to hand over the land in Broadway, on which the bus stand is located, by the end of November in order to begin construction of the multi-modal facility. The city corporation has assured the CMRL to give it post-monsoon.

In October, the GCC, in a resolution, said that the CMRL had carried out a detailed study for the works, and subsequently floated tender for the design and construction of the multi-modal facility complex which will integrate Broadway Bus stand, one of the oldest termini in the city, and the five-decade-old Kuralagam building. The project will be undertaken for a total cost of Rs 822.70 crore.

The multi-modal facility complex project will be taken over as a comprehensive integrated single project connecting the Broadway Bus stand owned by GCC and Kuralagam Building owned by Tamil Nadu Khadi and Village Industries Board.

The plot area of the existing Kuralagam building is about 1.09 acres while the built-up area of the existing Kuralagam building (ground floor plus 5 more floors) is 20,830 square metres.