When will Birsa Munda bus terminal at Khadgarha be inauguratedIJ Not any time soon it seems, as the ‘first international level bus terminal of the State missed the third deadline on Friday that was set by Chief Minister Raghubar Das himself.
The new bus stand, promising features like bus bays, air-conditioned rooms, dormitories and shops, has failed to meet the stipulated time limit twice already, once in November in 2014 and then again in June this year.
High-tension wire passing over the structure and encroachment on project land to be used for parking space were cited as reasons behind the delay so far.
Following this, CM instructed construction work to be completed by the end of September so that the bus terminus can be inaugurated on Gandhi Jayanti this year.
The high-tension wire was dealt with two months ago and those encroaching over the project land were relocated to BSUP flats for them in Madhukam earlier in September. Project supervisors guaranteed the terminus sprawled over a good 80,000 square feet will be completed within the set time frame. But it happened again.
When queried about the reason behind this latest deadline rescheduling, it was PM Narendra Modi's visit to the state that the Ranchi Municipal Corporation functionaries pointed to.
"The entire administrative machinery was busy with arrangements regarding PM Modi's visit to Khunti and Dumka. Due to this we had to postpone the inauguration date," stated Additional Municipal Commissioner Ram lakhan Gupta.
Even if this stands true, how an incomplete bus stand can be inaugurated remains to be seen. labourers and machinery still crowd the under-construction bus stand.
"About 90 per cent of the work is done here. The rooms have received the finishing touches and the rest of the structure is complete too. The parking space with capacity of holding 500 buses is complete too. Right now, we are working on the pathway leading in and out of the bus terminal. The incomplete bus bays will also be completed soon," said project supervisor Neelam Singh.
We got the encroached area back a little too late and it hindered the work progress here, he further added. Tenders were also invited from experienced parties interested in running the bus stand. Proposals were to be submitted separately for operating one of the two food plazas, maintaining the terminal along with running another food plaza, 12 rooms and dormitories, and shops in the campus. And this remains unfinished too.
"We were able to assign eleven shopping spaces out of the available 18, we received single tenders for the remaining seven. Right now, we are working on finalising parties to handle the food plazas, stand maintenance and security," informed RMC PRO Naresh Kumar Sinha.
On the question of when the stand will be functional, Gupta said, "A deadline has not been determined this time; we will open the bus terminal for public as soon as possible."