The bay at the Gandhipuram town bus stand accommodating buses bound for Thudiyalur, Vadavalli and Maruthamalai and other destinations has damaged slabs that cover sewers. A few stretches in the bay are better in that there are no slabs, threatening the commuters’ safety.
The sewer along the bay is full of plastic waste. In short, it is very dirty.
The slabs have remained in that condition for quite sometime. At least that is what those who use the bay say. A. Gunasekaran, a conductor of a bus that plies on the Gandhipuram-Edayarpalayam route, says that for the past two years – since his joining duty – it had been the same there. Nothing much has changed, he adds.
S. Krishnamoorthy, a visually challenged commuter, says that not only differently abled people like him but women and children have tumbled and fell in to the sewer while attempting to board the bus. The commuters look at the bus number board before boarding the vehicle. They hardly look down.
Though they could be faulted for not being careful in taking the next step, it is unacceptable that the Corporation had not replaced the slabs and cleaned the sewer.
Efforts to reach the Corporation officials proved futile.
The Coimbatore Corporation has been planning to expand the bus stand. It had asked for land from the Coimbatore Prison and files related to the subject are under the State Government’s consideration. Nearly 550 buses enter and exit the town bus stand.
