The construction site. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, May 4: A team of labourers and engineers is working through the day to finish construction of a new bus terminus on the outskirts of the town before the onset of monsoon.

The terminus is coming up on a 5-acre plot located around 1km from the heart of town beside NH34 and adjacent to the land earmarked for the new university. It is expected to ease traffic congestion in Malda.

Sources in the district administration said the public works department had begun construction in December last year and Rs 1.35 crore — sanctioned by the North Bengal Development Council — had been given to it for the first phase of the project.

“We are trying to complete the project by the end of May. We have already finished levelling the land and we have begun constructing the terminal building,” said Sasanka Das, the executive engineer of the PWD.

The terminal will house restrooms, waiting halls, the office of transport corporations and ticket counters. Each floor of the two-storey building will be spread over 2,200sqft area.

The district magistrate of Malda, Chittaranjan Das, who recently inspected the site, said the bus bays would have space for 13 vehicles at a time.

“This will be the largest and the most modern bus terminus in the district. I am happy with the progress of the work and have told the public works department that it should be ready before the rains come. The people of this town are being inconvenienced by daily traffic jams as the present bus terminus is in the heart of town,” the district magistrate said.

Bengal transport minister Susanta Ghosh had unveiled the foundation plaque of the terminus in 2000, said Das. “Ever since I took charge of the district, I wanted to get the construction done, but there were delays,” he said.

The district magistrate said the government has acquired 35 acres of land in the area. While the terminus was coming up on 5 acres, the rest has been earmarked for Gourbanga University.