Malls, cinema halls to come up at MGBS

Hyderabad: Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, still among the biggest in the country, will soon metamorphose into a pulsating entertainment and lifestyle centre with the authorities unveiling a Rs 10-crore plan that includes establishing shopping malls and cinema halls.

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation has initiated a slew of measures to modernise MGBS. According to TSRTC officials, already some of the renovation works have begun, while a few are in various stages of completion.

The officials have been taking several measures to generate revenues from sources other than the traditional ticketing as a way to wipe out some of the mounting losses of the corporation.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who had chaired a day-long review meeting in June to turn around RTC, had suggested to the officials to look for ways and means of generating additional revenues. The new initiatives are in line with his suggestions.

The renovated modern bus station would have a grand façade, shopping malls, cinema halls, better flooring, more seating arrangements, bigger reservation centre among other facilities.

The officials said that importance was being given to entertainment and shopping. The ground floor and the first floor would have cinema halls and shopping malls. Special arrangements are being made for construction of these facilities. The cinema halls will have capacity for 150 seats. For the benefit of shoppers, importance would be given to superior quality products, said the official.

RTC chairman S Satyanarayana, who held a review of the corporation recently, said that due to certain procedural difficulties many of the private agencies were reluctant to partner with the corporation.

If the difficult procedures could be simplified, many of the private agencies would come forward, he opined.Officials said that the bus station, upon modernisation, would look as good as any best railway station in the country.

Right from the ceiling to the flooring, everything would change after renovation. All the reservation counters are being renovated with an outlay of Rs 14.45 lakh. Soon tenders would be called for this purpose, said the official. Improvements to waiting halls were being done with an outlay of Rs 92 lakh and almost the entire work has been completed.

As part of the arrangements for seating, iron chairs would be placed at the platform. Seating chairs have been procured at a cost of Rs 11 lakh, said the official. The entry point of the new-look bus station would have a central reservation counter. All the entry points would be made checking points, giving priority to security, he said.

Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, which is also known Imlibun bus station, was originally located on the banks of the Musi river. Later, as part of its expansion, the river-bed was filled and a new facility constructed. On an average, daily 3,600 buses depart from MGBS, transporting about 1.2 lakh passengers to various destinations.

The MGBS covers an area 30 acres and built-up area in an eight-hectare complex. It was completed at a cost of Rs 13 crore. There are 150 platforms for incoming and outgoing buses, a waiting hall of 7,380 square metres and a shopping complex of 3,455 square metres, besides a 5,000 square metre area for private parking.

Recently, the Public Accounts Committee of the Telangana Legislature had expressed its displeasure over the unhygienic and pathetic conditions in the bus station and asked the officials to take corrective measures.