Land swap between KSRTC, VMHS in city yet to materialise

The ill-maintained KSRTC bus stand in Ernakulam puts the city to shame, and during rains, it turns into a pool of dirty water.
| Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin 

There is little headway in efforts by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the Vyttila Mobility Hub Society (VMHS) to exchange land owned by the two agencies in the city hub and at Vyttila to boost public transport network in Kochi. This is at a time when the condition of the KSRTC’s Ernakulam bus stand complex and its premises is turning from bad to worse.

With a fraction of the 25-acres that house the Vyttila Mobility Hub being used for a bus terminal and a metro station, VMHS too is facing flak for inordinate delay in kick-starting the long-overdue second phase development of the hub. It was in this context that the two agencies decided to exchange land at the two prime locales in the city to bring about a win-win situation. While VMHS will get land in the city hub, the KSRTC can route its long-distance buses through Vyttila once it gets dedicated land on the Vyttila hub premises.

Sources in the two agencies said they were awaiting a report from the Revenue department on the value of land at the two locales that was intended to be exchanged. They said efforts would be made to uphold the cause of seamlessly integrating different modes of public transport at the two locales, in keeping with the global trend.

Both the KSRTC and VMHS have been inviting all-round criticism for the shoddy upkeep of the two premises they own, while neither VMHS nor the Public Works department (PWD) has taken steps to improve the horribly maintained Kaniampuzha Road through which buses and other vehicles entered the Vyttila hub. The footpaths on either side too remained mostly in unusable condition and ill-lit.

The area that will be handed over to the KSRTC at the Vyttila hub is likely to be linked with the private bus parking area, metro station, and the Water Metro Jetty through a skywalk. On their part, private buses too will be able to enter the land at present owned by the KSRTC in the city hub, if it is handed over to VMHS. The private bus stand at Kaloor has been facing innumerable constraints, especially inadequate space.