The Times of India 19.01.2010
Underground parking at CMBT by March
CHENNAI: The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) at Koyambedu will have a two-level underground parking facility by March this year. The Rs 12-crore project that commenced in January 2009 is scheduled to be completed in May 2010. However, officials from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), who are maintaining the terminus and executing the project, said construction would be completed in a couple of months.
The new facility, which is being built in the vacant space at CMBT abutting Inner Ring Road, will have a capacity to accommodate 3,000 two-wheelers. At present, about 1 2,000 two-wheelers are being parked in the terminus every day. The existing two-wheeler parking area would be allotted for cars, which are now parked along the Inner Ring Road outside the CMBT.
“Though parking facility at the basement is not uncommon in the city, the two-level underground parking is the first of its kind being executed by the government in the city. The two levels of parking would be at depths of 10 feet and 20 feet. As many as 1,500 two-wheelers can be parked at each level. A park will be set up on the ground above the parking facility,’’ an official told The Times Of India.
Though the original estimate for the project was Rs 9 crore, it was revised to Rs 12 crore and basement works have almost been completed, the sources said.
The move has evoked a welcome response from two-wheeler riders. “The present parking lot in the terminus would be full during Sundays and other holidays and many people will find it difficult to park their vehicles there. Several people will park their two-wheelers near the prepaid autorickshaw stand which is a no-parking zone. Moreover, about 60 cars are coming to the terminus every day, but they had to be parked outside as they don’t have parking space inside the premises. Constructing a new facility with more parking space is a timely measure,’’ said Navaneetha Krishnan, a motorist.
The project was based on a study that had estimated that number of two-wheelers parked inside the terminus would be increased to 3,000 a day in the coming years.
