Date:01/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/01/stories/2008120151490300.htm

Karnataka - Mysore

City buses to operate from new locations from today

Staff Correspondent

City Bus-Stand closed for modernisation work

Buses will operate from CADA premises and parking lot on the south of palace
Work is expected to be completed in 18 months

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Information: A board indicating bus routes installed at the temporary city bus-stand near the Mysore Palace on Sunday.

MYSORE: City buses will operate from the premises of the Command Area Development Authority (CADA) and the parking lot on the south of the Mysore Palace from Monday in view modernisation work on the City Bus-Stand (CBS), located near the busy K.R. Circle, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The CBS will remain closed and buses will be operated from the two new locations until the modernisation work is completed. This temporary arrangement will continue for the next 18 months, according to officials of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).

Arrangements such as temporary shelters, drinking water, toilet facilities and platforms have been provided at the two locations from where buses, including Volvo AC buses, would ply to various localities here, they said. The KSRTC has, however, regretted the inconvenience caused to commuters due to shifting of the bus-stand and sought their support and cooperation in constructing a state-of-the-art infrastructure aimed at improving services in the city.

The officials said that platform No. 1, 3 and 4 were on the CADA office premises and platform No. 2, 5 and 5A were at the parking lot on the south of the palace.

Buses will ply on the following routes from Platform No. 1: Ramakrishnanagar, Kuvempunagar, Saraswathipuram, Jayanagar, Bogadi, T.K. Extension, Kanakadasanagar, Andolana Circle, Vivekananda Circle, Srirampura and BEML Layout; Platform 3: J.P. Nagar, Ramabai Nagar, Srirampura, Sterling Talkies, Vidyaranyapuram, Gorur, Vivekananda Circle, Akshay Bhandar, KEB Complex and Shantisagar; Platform 4: Siddhartha Extension, Milk Dairy, Jockey Quarters, Kalyanagiri Nagar, Triveni Circle, Raghavendra Nagar, Shaktinagar, JSS Extension, Radhakrishna Nagar and Teresian College; Platform 2: K.R. Hospital, railway station, Vanivilasapuram, Hebbal, Infosys, Wipro, Gokulam, Vijayanagar, Metagalli, Bharath Cancer Hospital, Kumbarakoppal and J.L. Puram; Platform 5: R.S. Naidu Nagar, Kesare, N.R. Mohalla, FTS, Udayagiri, Shantinagar, Rajivanagar, Beedi Colony, Sathagalli and Kalyanagiri Nagar; Platform 5A: Tilaknagar, Shalimar, Highway Circle, Bannimantap, B.M. Srinagar and Siddique Nagar.

The KSRTC had earlier planned to operate city buses from either Football Grounds near Doddakere Maidan or the J.K. Grounds opposite the Mysore Medical College and Research Centre. As the corporation did not get permission from the district administration for this, it made arrangements to operate buses from the new locations which are closer to the city centre.

The contract for modernisation of the bus-stand has been given to Nagarjuna Constructions and the work is expected to be completed in 18 months. “The work on the CBS may get over much before schedule,” said KSRTC Divisional Controller Srinivas.

Bus bays and shelters will be remodelled, seven more platforms will be added, digital display and signboards indicating frequency of services and departure time with destination will be installed and park-and-ride facility will be provided at the CBS. The Mofussil Bus-Stand is also being reconstructed under the JNNURM project.