While the new-look shelters for passengers at bus stops symbolise a good concept, the location of these at some points in the city may cause traffic blocks, secretary of the Coimbatore Consumer Cause K. Kathirmathiyon has said.
Barring Avanashi Road, the location of the new shelters on some other thoroughfares only point at the lack of co-ordination among the Coimbatore Corporation, the traffic wing of the Coimbatore City Police and the Regional Transport Office (RTO), the consumer activist said.
Prior to the World Classical Tamil Conference, the three agencies had coordinated well to carefully earmark the stops in order to avoid the choking of vehicle movement, he said. An old list of stops seems to have been the basis of the location of the shelters at some points after the conference, he alleged.
A member of the District Road Safety Committee, Mr. Kathirmathiyon said he had pointed this out in a letter to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra recently.
As per the decision taken at the committee's meeting, the shelters were put up on Avanashi Road after a joint inspection by the three agencies to earmark congestion-free spots for this purpose. But, after this, the shelters on other roads seem to be located without inspection and on the basis of a list of old locations with the Corporation. These shelters had come up at spots where their presence would only create congestion.
Mr. Kathirmathiyon cited the location of the shelter on Marudhamalai Road, close to the Lawley Road Junction. “The shelter should have been more than 150 ft further down the road. But, the new shelter has come up at the old bus stop. There is absolute chaos during peak hours, especially in the evening,” he said.
If two buses halt at the stop, vehicles get lined up well up to the middle of the junction. The stop on Cowley Brown Road in the opposite direction was too close to the curve. It should be only in front of Uzhavar Sandhai, he pointed out. These were all decided at the committee meeting a few years ago.
Another congestion point was the bus stop on Dr. Nanjappa Road, in front of Gandhipuram Town Bus Stand.
A study of the situation at the spot led to the decision that the stop had to be relocated. “Three District Collectors (who were also Regional Transport Authorities) had instructed that the stop be relocated. But, we see the new shelter at the same location,” Mr. Kathirmathiyon said.
“The Corporation is not in a position to know which are the best spots and which are not. The RTO and the Traffic Police should earmark the ideal location,” he pointed out. “I point out again that only a joint inspection of the spots will help in avoiding this problem,” he said. “Otherwise, money and time will be wasted on re-location,” he said.
