CMDA launches ₹393-cr transport terminal

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has started work on the construction of a new bus terminus at Kilambakkam on an area of 44.74 acres and entailing an investment of ₹393.73 crore. However, urban planners have questioned CMDA's move to start the work without securing environmental and other mandatory clearances and said that this is not the first time the move was made to shift the terminus to operate buses to the southern districts from CMBT at Koyambedu. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had refused to give a nod for the project as a portion of the site has been notified in the vicinity of the terminus construction site. However, at a later stage, the National Monuments Authority granted permission, after CMDA revised the plan by shrinking the size of the bus terminus and other allied facilities on the site, said sources.