Chandigarh to construct 150 bus queue shelters by Aug

Chandigarh, April 14

Engineering Department has set a target to complete the construction of the remaining 150 bus queue shelters by August.

The UT Administration had last year decided to construct 220 new bus queue shelters across the city at a cost of Rs 7.31 crore. Chief Engineer CB Ojha said, “There are a total of 221 bus queue shelters, of which 71 have been completed. The remaining 150 shelters will be completed by August this year in a phased manner.”

Advanced features

• Tactile flooring for the visually impaired and ramp
• 54 sq ft illuminated advertisement panel at the back
• GPS-enabled bus info system

He said the construction of new bus queue shelters in villages and sectors was mooted as per the requirement of the Transport Department. The Transport Department had decided to implement the grid system of public transport so as to make it more public friendly. Accordingly, the Department of Urban Planning finalised the design of the proposed new bus queue shelters in 2017.

The design of concrete structure was got approved after deliberations with a sub-group of the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee in order to maintain the heritage character of the city. Accordingly, the locations of the shelters in various sectors and villages was finalised by a team of officials from the Transport Department, Department of Urban Planning and the Engineering Department.

“There are 148 bus queue shelters in the city, of which 11 were found structurally unstable. The remaining 137 have been retained after refurbishment,” he said.

After the approval of the committee, a sample concrete bus queue shelter was constructed on the Sector 17-18 road in 2018. The sample was approved by the committee and senior officials of the Administration.

After the approval of the sample, the proposal for construction of 210 new concrete shelters was approved and a tender was awarded for Rs 7,31,53,104 in 2022. The cost of construction of one concrete shelter is Rs 3.50 lakh having an area of 150 square feet.