To decongest Mumbai roads, temporary inter-state bus terminal may come up at Wadala

The MMRDA has floated tenders for operating and maintaining the pay-and-park facility that can accommodate 172 buses

To decongest the space-starved city of haphazard parking, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) is planning to build a temporary inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) at Wadala. The terminal will provide private buses a parking spot, which could help decongest roads across Mumbai.

Senior MMRDA officials said they are looking at this as a temporary solution until a multistorey ISBT is built on the same plot in Wadala. (HT file)

The MMRDA has floated tenders for operating and maintaining the pay-and-park facility that can accommodate 172 buses and spans across 12,307 square meters at the Wadala truck terminal. Senior MMRDA officials said they are looking at this as a temporary solution until a multistorey ISBT is built on the same plot.

A senior MMRDA official said, “We have to take plenty of decisions regarding the ISBT. Whether the scheme should be based on public-private-partnership model or should we appoint an agency to run it, revenue sharing, etc. Till then, we are looking at this temporary solution because the Bombay high court has directed the MMRDA to provide space for parking buses.”

The ISBT project was first presented in 2007. Through this project, the planning authority wants to decongest city roads of heavy vehicles and bring them under one roof. A plot for creating parking space was to be finalised in Mankhurd, but the authorities reverted to the location that was first proposed — Wadala.