As the implementation of the public-private partnership initiative for modernising bus shelters faces a delay, MLA Local Area Development Scheme (MLA LADS) funds have emerged as a ray of hope for commuters.
The proposal for construction of uniformly-designed modern bus shelters in 1084 bus stops has encountered obstacles due to legal wrangles.
But 18 locations in CTH Road, Red Hills Road, Inner Ring Road, Tirumangalam Main Road, Valluvar Kottam High Road, Haddows Road, College Road, Cathedral Road and NSK Salai have already been identified by MLAs this year for construction of modern stainless steel bus shelters.
The tender process has been initiated by the Chennai Corporation for the 18 bus shelters and more MLAs are being requested by residents to allot funds under the MLA LADS for the construction of such modernised bus shelters.
Perambur MLA A.Soundararajan said he had requested the Chennai Corporation in March to use his MLA LADS funds to construct bus shelters.
“But the Chennai Corporation said they were constructing bus shelters under PPP mode. As many residents have been demanding bus shelters, we will again request the Corporation to use our funds for the shelters,” he added.
In the previous bids in the PPP mode, the civic body failed to get response for some packages of the work. There are over 2,000 bus stops served by the MTC, yet the Chennai Corporation has authorised only around 1,150 bus shelters across the 15 zones in the city.
A number of bus shelters maintained by a private consortium are also under litigation and continue to be yet another stumbling block to the modernisation drive initiated by the civic body a few years ago.
