Kerala - Kollam   

Noisy scenes at Kollam council

PHOTO: C. SURESH KUMAR

At the receiving end: Passengers waiting at Chinnakada in Kollam to board buses after the old bus stand there was demolished. —

KOLLAM: The Kollam Corporation Council on Tuesday witnessed heated exchanges between members of the ruling LDF and the Opposition UDF when the latter rushed to the Mayor’s podium demanding restoration of the Chinnakada bus stand as per a High Court order.

Mayor N. Padmalochanan adjourned the house stating that the bus stand would not be restored and that he had filed an appeal before the High Court. The High Court order of November 3 was on the basis of a petition from private bus operators and the deadline for restoring the bus stand was Tuesday.

The Opposition questioned the Mayor filing an appeal on the court order without the consent of the council.

The Mayor replied that in emergency situations, there was a provision to go in appeal without the consent of the council.

With a view to easing traffic congestion in the city, the Chinnakada private bus stand was razed on November 17 last year for constructing an underpass through the Chinnakada over-bridge.

The authorities had then announced that the work would start in December and be completed in six months.

Mr. Padmalochanan stated that the Chinnakada bus stand would cease to exist and all buses would operate from the nearby Andhamukam bus stand. When the project failed to take off, the Mayor blamed it on the delay on the part of the railways to allocate land at Chinnakada to the Corporation for constructing an approach road for the underpass.

The Mayor said at the council that replies from the railway authorities to various political leaders showing a favourable response to the land allocation issue had been submitted along with the petition as exhibits. Meanwhile, passengers complained that the shifting of the bus stand was causing inconvenience. The bus operators also complained that the shifting had disrupted their schedules.

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