Bengaluru

BBMP

Sahakar Nagar bus stop

While the BBMP has allocated Rs 45 lakh for the bus stand alone, the other facilities will be provided at an estimated cost of Rs 53 lakh. The new bus stop will be ready within six months – Prameela, Ganganagar ward corporator

BMTC bus drivers

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bus stops

Ganganagar is going to get a new bus stop. This expensive gift by the BruhatMahanagara Palike () will cost Rs 98 lakh. The existing bus stop at Ganganagar is just five years old but the proposed bus stop is likely to be so swanky that you might want to miss a bus or two.Modelled along the lines of privately built and funded, the Ganganagar bus stop will have a music system playing music through the day and reading material (about five newpapers) available for waiting passengers.The Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (KRIDL) has appointed MS Suresh a builder, who had constructed the Sahakar Nagar bus stop in memory of his parents. Built in the Hoysala style, Suresh says, he designed and built the Marappanapalya bus stop for the BBMP and will now construct the Ganganagar bus stop on the same lines.The Sahakar Nagar bus stop has granite columns with fluting and granite flooring, just like you would see in a Hoysala temple at Somanathpura, Halebid and Belur. A panel of miniature pillars forms the balcony and three domes on top of the bus stop make it a stately structure. At Sahakar Nagar, the domes are painted in gold.Suresh says he cannot put an estimate to the Sahakar Nagar bus stop but the cost of construction of Marappa-napalya is Rs 35 lakhs plus taxes.The Ganganagar bus stop has seating space for 25 people at a time. The Ganga-nagar ward corporator, Prameela M, said that they had plans to build toilets forand conductors too, at the bus stop.“The proposed bus stand will be on the lines of the bus stands at Sahakar Nagar and Marappanapalya ward. It will have all the facilities to engage the commuters waiting for the BMTC buses,’’ said Ganganagar ward corporator Prameela M.According to her, the proposed bus stand is to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 45 lakh (plus 53 lakh for other facilities). The music system will played songs through the day - suprbhata in the morning, then devotional songs, latest Kannada songs, Kannada classics and instrumental music.There will be a provision to have five or sixfor the benefit of the commuters.“While the BBMP has allocated Rs 45 lakh for the bus stand alone, the other facilities (toilets for BMTC staff, parking lot, development of the Ganganagar circle) will be provided at an estimated cost of Rs 53 lakh. The new bus stop will be ready within six months,’’ she said. The ground breaking ceremony for the new bus stop will take place this Saturday. The present bus stop is fairly new and was constructed just five years ago. Most of the space at the bus stand used to be occupied by vehicles parked by commuters and street vendors. If all goes well, the new bus stand will be free from all this nuisance.“There will be a separate space for parking two-wheelers and four-wheelers. We want to make this bus stand a model bus stand,’’ the corporator said.Meanwhile, a few residents have complained against the encroachment of footpaths and roads by the street vendors in Ganga-nagar. They said the pedestrians are compelled to walk on the busy and congested roads risking their lives.“All of us are aware that footpaths are meant for pedestrians but here it is different. While pedestrians are forced to walk on the road, street vendors are carrying out their business from the footpaths. I want the authorities to act against encroachment of footpaths,’’ said Gururaj N, a resident of Ganganagar.Expressing concern over the lack of space on the road for the movement of vehicles, Subramanya S, a resident of Ganganagar, has questioned the traffic police and BBMP authorities for allowing the street vendors to encroach the footpaths and the cross roads near the bus stand.“It has become difficult to pass through this cross road to proceed towards RT Nagar police station. It is quite surprising that no action is being taken against the encroachers despite the police station being just a stone’s throw away from here,’’ said Subramanya.Meanwhile, the corporator said, “With the developmental works at the bus stand in progress, all the vendors have shifted to the nearby footpaths. I know the street vendors have become a hurdle for the smooth flow of traffic here. I will discuss this with the BBMP authorities.” Suresh said that he had been approached by the Yelahanka MLA to construct twoin Yelahanka, along similar lines.