Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu
Mangalore, Feb 19: The State Government has approved a proposal of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to build a modern bus stand at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, sources in the Mangalore Division of the KSRTC said.
This is probably the first PPP-model proposal approved for construction of a KSRTC bus stand here.
Puttur is a prominent arecanut trading centre in the region. Being the taluk headquarters, it is a fast-developing town.
Sources, on condition of anonymity, said the bus stand would be built on 2.5 acres of land adjoining the existing one, which is not spacious enough to meet the requirements of the growing town.
They said the private chosen to carry out the work would provide certain mandatory facilities. The agency would keep the commercial revenue earned by the facilities (shops and hoardings) at the bus stand. However, it would have to pay KSRTC a specified royalty.
“Tentatively it is so. The Government is yet to finalise the details of the agreement,” a senior KSRTC official told The Hindu.
The sources also said the division would construct two new depots in Mangalore, one in the city and another on B.C. Road. The KSRTC also planned to introduce bus services within the city. The new depot here would be built at Kuntikana near the existing one. Construction would begin in a few days. It was expected to be completed by July. Work on the depot at B.C. Road had begun and would end by May, the sources said. Once the new depot at Kuntikana is ready, it will be the third bus depot in Mangalore.
The KSRTC plans to entrust 100 schedules (one schedule is the onward and return journey of a bus from the depot) a day to the third depot.
In addition, the depot at B.C. Road will be asked to handle 60 schedules a day. At present, its two depots in the city handle 276 schedules a day. The burden of the two depots will be shared by the third depot. It will help handle the operation of city buses too, the sources said.
They said the district administration was likely to hand over six acres of land to KSRTC within a few days so that a depot could be built at Sullia. The KSRTC was also planning on setting up a depot at Kukke Subramanya.
In addition, a bus stand would also be built at B.C. Road. Land amounting to 1.5 acres for the purpose had been identified. The Mangalore City Corporation was also planning to build a modern bus stand at Uppinangady, the sources said.