COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore municipal corporation plans to shift the Omni bus stand towards the rear end of CODISSIA
hall to decongest the busy stretch near GP Theatre. The proposal is
expected to ease the burden of accommodating Omni buses plying to
Bangalore, Kerala, Chennai and other districts from the busy stretch of
Sathy Road and Dr Radhakrishnan Salai and the traffic intersection at Sathy Road-100 Feet road.

The resolution to send a proposal seeking the state government’s
permission to shift the bus terminal to the new location was passed in
the council meeting held at the Coimbatore municipal corporation on
Monday. If the state government approves the corporation’s plan, then
the new Omni bus stand will be situated about 80 feet behind the
CODISSIA hall spread across 11.7 acres.

“The decision to shift
the Omni bus stand to the new location was taken after conducting
detailed discussions and scouting for locations. Shortage of space and
land availability forced us to settle on the new location near COSISSIA
Hall

Out of the 11.7 acres of land available, the corporation
plans to merge 8.44 acre of land with the Bhoomidhan board and the
remaining 2.73 acres will belong to the CODISSIA complex. Officials say
that the permission to utilize 11.7 acres of Bhoomidhan board’s land
will ultimately depend on Commissioner of Land Administration’s final
approval.

“The approach road to CODISSIA has been handed over to
the corporation already and we are developing a scheme road connecting
Avinashi towards the proposed site. There were some legal hurdles as a
matriculation school interfered with the proposed route. Now, it is
being diverted towards the eastern side,” said a corporation official.

However, Omni bus operators say that if the location is shifted from
Sathy Road to CODISSIA then passengers will have difficulty in
approaching the bus stand. They also added that the existing one acre
and the adjoining two acres of land belonging to the corporation was
enough to expand the parking facilities of the Omni bus stand.

“It will be difficult for people to reach the new bus stand near
CODISSIA. But we have to comply with the corporation’s decision,” said R
Bhaskar, president, Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Owners Association
(Coimbatore).

The Omni bus stand on Sathy Road caters to a large
number of passengers and also goods transporters operating out of the
stand claimed that there are about 100 buses using the bus stand.