Jul 20, 2018 / The Times of India
CHENNAI: After Madhavaram and Kilambakkam, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is exploring land parcel in western suburbs of Poonamallee to house the third bus terminus for long distance fleets. The new facility will cater for buses bound for Bengaluru, Dharmapauri and Vellore and would completely decongest Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) at Koyembedu.
CMDA sources said that a request has been made to the Tiruvallur district collector to identify land ‘poramboke’ land around Poonamallee. “We have asked the (Tiruvallur) district administration to look for ‘poramboke’ land measuring 15 to 20 acres around Poonamallee for establishing the bus terminus,” an official told TOI.
The planning authority is exploring land within a radius five kilometres from Poonamallee. “It is an effort is to entirely decongest Koyembedu, wherein CMBT will be used only for city services,” another senior official said.
The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has firmed up plans to add Poonamallee into the 107.55 kilometre Phase II metro rail network. According to official estimates, 600 services are operated to different destinations from CMBT to Arani, Arcot, Dharmapuri, Kancheepuram, Vellore and Bengaluru, which passes through Poonamallee everyday. An additional 200 buses are added during the weekend to cater for extra demand from commuters.
The initiative comes close on the heels of an intercity bus terminus at Madhavaram for buses bound to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is expected to be inaugurated soon, while the government has earmarked 35 acres of land at Kilambakkam near Vandalur on GST Road to operator fleets bound for southern districts from the southern outskirts of the city. Official sources further said that shuttle services could be operated from the proposed facility nearest city bus terminus to facilitate the movement of passengers to their respective places. The CMRL’s plans to extend the metro rail till Poonamallee is an added advantage to the location, CMDA sources added.