Consumer forum to take up fight for proposed bus terminal near Kozhikode MCH

Holding the Kozhikode Corporation accountable for the inordinate delay in implementing the proposed bus terminal near the Government Medical College Hospital, the Kozhikode District Consumer Protection Committee (KDCPC) has decided to launch a series of protests with the support of various civic welfare organisations. As the first phase, an open forum to mobilise public support will be held at the project site on July 22.

“The project had been included multiple times in the Corporation’s budget, but nothing has happened over the past decade. Even after the resolution of a civil dispute related to the acquired land, there was no progress in taking it forward,” said T.K.A. Azeez, president, KDCPC. He added that commuters continued to bear the brunt of the local administration’s apathy.

Representatives of various local merchant forums, residents’ associations, drivers’ unions, school authorities, and student welfare organisations have already expressed solidarity with the KDCPC’s plan to launch a collective protest. Following the open forum, a joint action committee will be formed to coordinate the indefinite agitations.

“It was in 2009 that former Minister for Local Administration Paloli Mohammed Kutty laid the foundation stone for the multi-storey bus terminal. A private construction company was entrusted with the work under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement. However, an unexpected civil dispute over the 3.5 acres of land in their possession played spoilsport,” said a leader of a local merchants’ organisation who had earlier been at the forefront of protests.

He said the contracting company associated with the project had also raised allegations against the Corporation authorities for their alleged laxity in clearing various legal documents related to the land identified along the Medical College–Mavoor Road, even after the civil disputes had been resolved.

Police officers with the Kozhikode City Traffic department were also among those who had repeatedly sought the Corporation’s immediate intervention to realise the proposed bus terminal, considering it the only effective solution to streamline traffic at the busy junction. They had also recommended constructing a traffic island at the site as part of efforts to decongest the area.

Ambulance operators and taxi drivers in the Medical College area were among the main protesters against the delayed project. They pointed out that the unchecked movement of city buses around the congested intersection was creating chaos during peak traffic hours. According to them, patients and their bystanders were the worst affected due to the lack of a streamlined traffic system in the absence of a satellite bus terminal.

Meanwhile, Corporation sources said there were “no purposeful delays” on the part of the authorities in resolving the technical issues related to the project. They added that the work could resume once an additional 20 cents of land is secured on lease at the entrance of the already identified property.