New claim on ownership of East Fort bus terminal
The East Fort bus terminal has been a battleground between the KSRTC and private bus operators, and now the debate over the ownership of the city bus terminal gets a new twist with a lawyer petitioning Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claiming the land belongs to the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.Senior lawyer B S Prasad Gandhi, the petitioner, in his letter to the Chief Minister said the 2.28 acre land in front of the East Fort wall where the bus bay is situated, belonging to the temple was encroached by various parties. He asked the Chief Minister to launch immediate steps to reassign the land to the custody of the temple management.
The lawyers’ claim is contrary to the KSRTC’s claim of ownership of the land where the bus bay is situated. The KSRTC raised the issue during its fight with private bus operators over the latter’s stoppage at the bus bay.As per the KSRTC’s claim, 75 cents of land lying parallel to the East Fort wall could solely be used by it for the stoppage of its vehicles. A three-minute halt for private buses was allowed at the terminal by a decision taken by the Regional Transport Authority in 1994.
KSRTC’s claim of ownership was again ascertained by an RTA meeting chaired by District Collector K Vasuki in September. It also approved the KSRTC’s claim that parking of private buses was creating traffic hurdles at the congested bus bay. The meeting barred private operators from using the bus bay until further orders. The Collector also asked the regional transport officer to submit a report suggesting alternative locations for boarding points of private operators.
Complaints about the haphazard parking of private buses at the East Fort bus bay is nothing new. Private players are accused of parking vehicles obstructing the movement of KSRTC buses often with the covert help of the traffic wardens posted there. The frequent accidents reported in the area too, forced the RTA and the district administration to take serious note of the issue and launch curbs. But now, with the new claim, the ownership issue is likely to be challenged in new avenues thereby dragging a permanent solution to avoid mishaps.
According to Prasad’s petition, neither the KSRTC nor any other party has the authority to stake claim over the 1.28 acre parallel to the Fort wall in full or part. His petition also cited a High Court directive to remove encroachments in the area.Meanwhile, the KSRTC is confident of getting full ownership of the land. Its executive director (operations) Anil Kumar told Express the corporation had revenue documents as proof of ownership. “The bus bay solely falls in KSRTC land. The RTA was convinced of the corporation’s claim and hence came the decision to bar private operators from using the bus bay,” he said.
