Waking up to the land lying waste for years under Vidyasagar Setu, the state government has decided to build a modern bus terminus on the Howrah side and an amusement park on the Calcutta side.

The transport department has earmarked a 12-acre plot beneath the ramp of the Setu for the terminus. The Babughat and Esplanade bus termini will be relocated there. The amusement park will come up on a 30-acre plot adjacent to the bridge.

Both projects will be joint ventures between Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) and private builders.

A team of legislators led by chairman of the Assembly subject committee on transport Sadhan Pande visited the plots on Tuesday and held meetings with the HRBC officials.

?The 30-acre plot owned by HRBC at Hastings, beside the Hooghly, is lying unutilised. Once the park is completed there, it will become one of the most attractive spots in the city. Consulting Engineering Services has been asked to prepare the design of the park,?? Pande said after visiting the site.

The transport department had invited parties interested in taking up work on the bus terminus and received response from 14 companies.

?We have shortlisted two companies after considering their track record and financial capability. We will soon invite a financial bid and select one of them. We hope to complete the formalities soon and sign an agreement,?? said chief traffic and transportation engineer B.K. Sadhu.

The new terminus will house both short and long-distance buses, including buses coming from other districts and states. It will also have a taxi stand.

According to the plan, the bus terminus will be similar to the Inter State Bus Terminus in Delhi and will provide various amenities to passengers and bus workers. There will be provision to park 100 buses at the terminus.

Apart from bus bays and sheds for passengers, it will have a workshop for vehicle repairing, a petrol pump and an auto-emission testing centre.

In addition, there will be two towers housing commercial establishments, besides shopping malls, restaurants, restrooms for passengers and bus workers, and an entertainment centre. The estimated cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 10 crore.

?We hope that the bus terminus will be operational within a year. The entire project should be completed within two years,? said transport minister Subhas Chakraborty.

?Once the new terminus is opened, buses will not be allowed to park at Babughat and Esplanade. Over a hundred long-distance buses operate daily from Babughat, causing traffic congestion in the city. We could not shift the terminus as there was no alternative,?? he added.

The government had earlier adopted several plans to utilise the vast stretch of unutilised land underneath the viaduct of the Setu on the Calcutta side.

A gold jewellery market, garments complex, book bazaar and wholesale markets had been envisaged, but the plans had not taken shape as the traders refused to shift citing lack of security and unsuitability of the site for a market.