The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Hardly in good condition to shelter commuters from rain and shine

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Friday, Aug 01, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Hardly in good condition to shelter commuters from rain and shine

Vidya Venkat

Seating arrangements in existing bus shelters are found lacking or inadequate

— Photo: Vidya Venkat

An apology for shelter: A bus shelter in Avadi serves purposes other than for what it is meant.

CHENNAI: Suburbs of the city are in need of good bus shelters. In most suburban bus stands, shelters are either absent or the existing ones dilapidated.

Details of bus services displayed on the sides are often camouflaged by stickers and advertisements. Seating arrangements in existing shelters are found lacking or inadequate, complain commuters.

A case in point is the Ambattur OT bus stand. Though 38 Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus services originate here, the shelter there does not display details of the services. It is also small to accommodate commuters.

An MTC official said that announcing bus arrivals and departures over the mike did not help because several buses entered and exited the stand at the same time. “During rush hour there is a lot of confusion regarding which bus will stop where,” he said. Autorickshaws and two-wheelers parked in the bus stand compound the problem for the commuters.

Many bus stands on the Ambattur-Red Hills, Avadi-Poonamallee, Guindy-Poonamallee, Velachery-Tambaram, Medavakkam-Sholinganallur-Old Mahabalipuram Road, St.Thomas Mount-Nanganallur bus routes do not have proper bus shelters.

Pattabiram resident T.Sadagopan said Avadi and Ambattur had high levels of floating population and absence of bus shelters meant new commuters had no idea where to board or alight buses.

“Thirumullaivoyal and Thiruninravur do not have shelters at all. At the Ivan Stedford hospital bus stand, several expectant women and patients are forced to wait in the hot sun,” he said.

Prem Kumar, a resident of Thoraipakkam, said, “In most places, there is not even a signboard to declare it is a bus stop. “Since the OMR is being laid, some temporary measures can be introduced here,” he suggested.

All India Rail and Bus Passengers Asssociation secretary T. Ravikumar said that important stops such as the Guindy flyover and the Karayanchavadi junctions where both mofussil and city bus services stop have no bus shelters. This poses dangers to road-users and commuters at the stand.

Municipal officers in western suburbs say the fate of bus shelters dependson completing the widening of the Chennai-Tiruvallur High Road.

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