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KSRTC's turnaround creditable: VS

Staff Reporter

First shopping complex-cum-bus station opened at Angamaly

Modernisation drive: (From left) Devaswom Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran, Transport Minister Jose Thettayil, Chief Minister

KOCHI: Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan said here on Wednesday that the Left Democratic Front government was successful in reviving the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which was written off as a ‘white elephant', during its four-and-a-half year rule.

In his address at the inauguration of the first shopping complex-cum-bus station of the KSRTC at Angamaly constructed on a build-operate-transfer basis, Mr. Achuthanandan said that work on similar shopping complex-cum-bus stations was fast progressing at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

Stating that the government was able to step up the share of KSRTC among the entire bus services in the State from 13 per cent to 27 per cent during the last four years, the Chief Minister said that the government had implemented a comprehensive package for reviving the corporation. He said that the government had launched about 2,712 new buses besides introducing nearly 1, 200 schedules across the State.

Explaining that the government was also able to appoint about 20,000 persons through the Public Service Commission in KSRTC, Mr. Achuthanandan said that the Malabar services launched in the northern part of the State could ease the transportation problems faced by the people there.

He said that the government had provided assistance worth Rs.509 crore to revive the corporation. The Chief Minister urged the employees and the public to join hands in ensuring the progress of KSRTC.

Delivering the presidential address on the occasion, Jose Thettayil, Transport Minister, said that the shopping complex-cum-bus station at Angamaly would boost development in the area. He said that the project would also increase the tourism potential of the region considerably.

S. Sarma, Minister for Fisheries and Registration; Kadannappally Ramachandran, Devaswom Minister, K. P. Dhanapalan, MP; MLAs K. Babu, T. U. Kuruvila, Saju Paul, A.M. Yousuf, M. J. Jacob, and Babu Paul; M. C. Josephine, Chairperson of Greater Cochin Development Authority; V. P. Joy, Transport Secretary; and T. P. Senkumar, Managing Director of KSRTC spoke.

According to the project report, the shopping complex-cum-bus station at Angamaly, spread over 2.67 lakh sq.ft, was completed at a cost of Rs.32 crore.

The eight-storeyed complex was built on a build-operate-transfer basis. Nearly Rs.7 crore was used for modernising the bus terminal.

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