No end to passengers’ plight even 18 years after commissioning of Goshree bridges
No end to passengers’ plight even 18 years after commissioning of Goshree bridges
The delay in permitting entry of buses from the Goshree Islands into the city, 18 years since the trio of Goshree Bridges were commissioned on June 5, 2004, has invited the wrath of lakhs of islanders, and also bus operators.
They still have to disembark from buses coming from the isles at High Court Junction, travel to bus stops in the vicinity, and then board city or mofussil buses to reach their destination.
With other government agencies dithering in proactively intervening in the issue, the Kerala Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA) had in 2021 vested the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) with the task of readying a report. Following this, the NATPAC handed over a study report to Kochi Corporation, seeking its feedback on the proposals.
“We analysed a set of three scenarios, among which one is to extend the service of a set of buses that remained stationed at the High Court Junction for over 30 minutes before returning to the isles. But care ought to be given so that they do not throw into disarray the headway between buses in different city routes,” NATPAC sources said.
The Corporation is supportive to the demand to permit buses from the isles into the city, said Mayor M. Anilkumar. “Our stand has been conveyed to the Minister of Transport. The KMTA Board must take a decision on the issue,” he said.
Action council’s concern
The Goshree Action Council, which untiringly spearheaded the demand to realise the Goshree bridges, expressed dismay at buses being denied entry into the city, even as the bridges turned 18 years, ‘attaining the age of maturity’. Its chairman Majnu Komath spoke of how the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, directed the then Collector and others to probe the feasibility of extending the buses to the city. “Following this, a meeting was held, and it was decided to recommend to the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to extend long-distance buses that terminated in Kochi city to the Vypeen bus stand, and to permit buses from the isles into the city. The RTA was directed to assess the number of buses that ought to be given permission under this,” Mr. Komath said.
Subsequently, a list of 37 buses that waited for over an hour at the High Court Junction was prepared, to permit them to operate in the city. This was opposed by city bus operators. The situation has changed, with KMTA, an autonomous body, being in position to take a decision on the matter, Mr. Komath said.
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