Chief Minister Raghubar Das and his cabinet colleagues on Friday opened a slew of projects, including inter-state bus terminal, agriculture directorate premises and laid foundation of a sewerage-drainage system here ahead of the gala statehood foundation celebrations on November 15.
The State capital has been waiting for the international standard bus terminal since it was carved out in 2000.
Das also threw open the newly constructed Krishi Bhawan, spread over a total built up area of 74,855 square feet. The newly-constructed building has 94 rooms, 14 big halls and a conference hall of 1348 sft area.
The G+1 bus terminal building houses several amenities for the passengers which includes a passengers shed sprawled across 40,000 square feet, food plazas, separate dormitories and toilets for men and women, shops, 36 ticket counters and a 12-room Yatri Nivas.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also kicked off the first phase of sewerage and drainage project for Ranchi. The project, which is to be completed in four phases, is meant to improve the usually rundown sanitation scenario in the city.
The Zone-1 of sewerage and drainage project will cover around 2.50 lakh denizens of Ranchi across nine wards, including Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 32, 33, 34 and 35. The project, to be completed by September 27, 2017 with a budget of Rs 359.25 crore, will be undertaken by Jyoti Buildtech Pvt ltd.
Under the first phase of the project sewer pipeline 205 km in length and drainage pipeline 207 km long will be laid, covering an area of 27.71 square kilometres. Also, a sewerage treatment plant with the daily capacity of 37 million litres will be set up at Kishunganj and a sewerage pumping station at Kathalgonda with capacity of 10.20 million litres per day.
After inaugurating the bus terminal, the Chief Minister stated, “Previously, we had an international cricket stadium to be proud of, but now this new bus terminal is the next structure of international quality that has been added to this list. Despite several delays, this achievement finally came to pass.”
Much emphasis was put on keeping the swanky clean premises spotless in days to come. “Those found littering or spitting here and there in the bus stand will be strictly fined. A separate smoking zone will also be demarcated in the bus stand for smokers, but smoking anywhere else will again result in penalties. This bus stand is visited by residents of neighbouring states, so we must make sure to present a clean image of Jharkhand before them. The bus drivers and agents who reside here will have most of the responsibility for this, but the visitors and passengers will also be equally responsible,” Das said.
Addressing the members of bus owners’ association, Urban Development and Transportation Minister CP Singh stated, “The rampant problem of traffic jams in the area due to buses has been a nuisance to commuters passing through. But it can be solved with your cooperation.”
Discussing future plans, he added, “We will soon be laying the foundation stone for Transport Nagar. Several projects for the betterment of the state are in the pipeline, but it will take some time to make them a reality.”
“The newly-built bus terminal is capable of being an example for us and others to look up to. Following this, we are planning to develop other existing bus terminuses, Dhurwa bus stand and ITI bus stand, on similar lines of the Birsa Munda bus terminal in the next financial year,” said Mayor Asha lakra.
But the fact that a private party for managing the bus terminal is yet to be decided may bring the jubilation to an end. “The first tender we floated inviting interested parties for bus stand was a failure. We have again issued tenders for the same and will succeed in finding capable parties soon,” assured Municipal Commissioner Prashant Kumar.