Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Transportation hub near Parade grounds

A lot of words have been written up in the print media about the proposed, integrated bus-train terminal in the old Gandhi Hospital area near Secunderabad railway station. This is no doubt a good idea, and one hopes the project becomes a reality soon. This project can hopefully, help solve the transportation needs to the Eastern, Northern and Southern parts of the city.

But the main bottle neck would be buses trying to cut across the St Mary's road from the proposed complex to Clock tower, Jubilee Bus station, Bowenpally, Ameerpet and beyond. This will lead to more problems than at present, and I think we should look at an additional bus terminal for the northern parts of the city.

There is a huge amount of prime land available in the premises of the College of Air Warfare, which is located opposite the Parade grounds in Secunderabad. The state government can use its good offices in Delhi, and persuade the Union Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherji to relocate the college to another area in Secunderabad. The state government can offer land in close proximity, in lieu of the premises being handed over to the Andhra Pradesh State government.

Once this is done, the entire area, housing the College of Air Warfare can be demolished and converted into a city bus terminal for Santhnagar-Bolarum-Bowenpally areas. It can also have a multi-level parking facility for two and four wheelers.

This move will help reduce congestion in the Patny-Parklane-Paradise and MG Road areas. Transportation experts and municipal authorities should consider the plan and solve the parking and traffic problems in the Secunderabad area.

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