Thrikkakara’s old landmark to make way for a new complex

Bus terminal and shopping complex to be demolished

One of Thrikkakara’s oldest landmarks, the bus terminal and shopping complex, will be demolished, and a modern facility is being planned to be established in its place.

Thrikkakara municipality chairperson Ajitha Thankappan said the municipal council had decided to go ahead with the project, which had been in planning for several years. She said the council had given in-principle approval for the project.

The municipal complex was established way back in 1978, when K. Avukader Kutty Naha was the minister for panchayats. It had fallen on bad days as the municipality grew in population and more busy centres came to be established. It is close to the district headquarters, where thousands of people arrive on a daily basis for transacting different businesses.

The proposed structure is expected to house a new municipal office with the latest facilities. The demand for a modern bus terminal, including facilities for long distance services, has been a long-standing one.

Cartoonist Sudheernath, a local historian, said that the old shopping complex and bus terminal were part of the memories of the past generation. He said with the establishment of the NGO Quarters, more than a kilometre away from the bus terminal, most of the commercial activities were shifted there.

V.V. Vinod, who runs an Akshaya centre at the old shopping complex, said that there were 13 shops in the complex that was planned to be demolished. He said the municipal authorities had taken a generous view of the shop owners and they expected to get temporary relocation before the new complex was established.

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