Private firm to maintain Kuthambakkam terminus

CHENNAI: With the construction works of the Kuthambakkam bus terminus nearing completion, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has decided to appoint a private firm to operate and maintain the new facility from where buses to western districts as well as to Bengaluru will be operated.

The firm selected through a bidding process will pay a minimum of Rs 1.25 crore per year as concessionaire fees to the planning authority. It will run the terminal for 15 years, and the concessionaire fees will be increased by 50 per cent once in five years.

The planning authority is planning to complete all works and inaugurate the Rs 414-crore facility before the Pongal festival. Once opened, buses to Vellore, Hosur, Bengaluru, and other parts of the State will be operated from Kuthambakkam. Presently, the buses to these places are being operated from the Koyambedu bus terminal.

Apart from the 24.80-acre bus terminus, the firm will also maintain nine acres of land allocated for idle bus parking for TNSTC and MTC buses, a police station, and other allied facilities. Also, it will maintain the access road connecting National Highway-4 with the bus terminus.

Since the terminal will be maintained under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, the selected firm will rent out the shops and others inside the facility to generate revenue. It will also earn revenue by collecting entry fee from government buses, omnibuses, advertisements, parking fee, dormitory charges, cloak rooms, etc.

The firm will be responsible for gardening, housekeeping, parking of private vehicles, water supply, and other facilities and amenities. It will also carry out minor repair works like plastering wall cracks, fixing of plumbing, and electrical fitouts.

To ensure that the private firm carries out the maintenance work properly, the planning authority will impose conditions so that the agreement with the firm would be nullified if it fails to rectify defects within a certain timeline.