CHENNAI: Bringing an end to decades of demands from residents and visitors thronging the temple town and silk hub, the Kancheepuram Corporation has decided to build a new bus terminus at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore on an 11-acre land.

The existing bus stand located in the heart of the town was built nearly 60 years ago on about seven acres based on the population and transport needs of that time.

Now, however, more than 300 buses are operated from the terminus every day, and many of them are parked outside the terminal or at its rear due to the space crunch inside. The situation worsens during festival seasons, causing serious inconvenience to passengers.

Owing to space constraints, government buses to western districts such as Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur, Dharmapuri, and Krishnagiri no longer originate from Kancheepuram and instead operate from Chennai or Vellore.

Residents, traders, and commuters have been demanding for a bigger and modern terminus outside the city limits. Several sites along the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway, including areas near Keel Kathirpur and Chitherimedu, were identified, but land acquisition hurdles stalled those plans.

Finally, a 19-acre government land near Ponnery canal along the highway was identified in 2017, of which 11 acres were handed over by the Revenue Department to the district administration and the Kancheepuram Corporation for constructing a new terminus.

The corporation fenced the land, allocated Rs 40 crore for the project, and floated tenders.

However, it was again halted when a private trust that had been maintaining the land approached the court and obtained an interim stay, preventing encroachment removal and construction work.

Recently, after examining documents submitted by the district administration, the court dismissed the petition and also clarified that there was no legal hurdle to constructing the facility, and said the work could begin immediately.

Following the verdict, Kancheepuram Collector Kalaiselvi Mohan met Handlooms Minister R Gandhi, who was in Kancheepuram for an event, and shared the news and offered sweets. The minister urged officials to commence construction at the earliest.