ONDA BUS STAND FACILITIES NOT PUT TO USE FULLY

VALPOI: The magnificent state of the art architectural work of government--the Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) Ltd's bus stand built at Onda Sattari is yet to become fully operational, with shops still lying closed and hardly any traffic movement seen at the bus stand.

This KTC bus stand which was inaugurated on October 24, 2009 lies unused as hardly any buses enter as no passengers board buses from the place. Bus stand includes 21 shops, a waiting lounge, drinking water and toilet facilities. It also has ample space for parking buses and auto rickshaws but sadly it is well used by children to play here. The only busy part is at the entrance where buses are seen paying the toll of the bus stand.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by the then chief minister Pratapsingh Rane on December 4, 2006 and it took almost 2 yrs to complete it. This bus stand, costing crores of rupees built by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation on the Sanquelim-Valpoi road was inaugurated at the hands of chief minister, Mr Digamber Kamat with much fanfare.

The bus stand was handed over to the KTC for maintenance and running of the day to day operation. A visit to the place revealed that nearly 2 years after inauguration existing facilities except KTC ticket counter nothing was put to use giving the whole area a deserted look. In absence of security guard the greenery which is put for creating eco-friendly environment is becoming food hub for stay cattle’s. A local said that if KTC take initiative to make the shops operational it would have brought some revenue for them.

People prefer the old bus stand as it is centrally located and buses wait on the road to collect their passengers thus creating traffic congestion at Onda. Despite of the bus stand project the traffic chaos continues here which indicates that the bus stand serves no purpose. Besides, buses going to Ponda and Margao have to travel an extra 1km which is again a major drawback and a hurdle in operation of this bus stand. Meanwhile, sources informed that taking cognizance of this, state government is planning to take out a new diversion road from the bus stand to Ponda which will make the bus stand fully operational.