The absence of bus shelters on the city’s arterial roads is causing a lot of inconvenience to residents, who are already suffering due to the blistering summer heat.
On Sunday afternoon, commuters at Thousand Lights bus stop were waiting desperately for buses to get back home as the heat was becoming unbearable. The cause of their woes was the absence of a proper shelter above their heads.
“This is a very important route and we are wondering why there is no proper roof for the shelter or space for us to sit,” said K. Vidya, a commuter, said.
With the city losing its green cover owing to indiscriminate uprooting of avenue trees, the absence of shelters in crowded bus stops have been adding to commuters’ problems.
At Simpson’s bus stop, a large bus shelter was recently removed. “The trees in the compounds nearby are the only respite,” said a commuter. The stop is frequented by patients visiting the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital.
While the Corporation maintains about 1,200 bus shelters in the city, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has over 2,000 bus shelters under its maintenance. At present, work is being carried out for building about 15 bus shelters at stops that are located on Chennai-Thiruvallur High Road, officials said.
Most commuters said that even if construction of new bus shelters was not possible owing to the model code of conduct being in place ahead of the Assembly polls, a temporary arrangement should be made for commuters who have to stand in the open in harsh weather. Officials said that the problem was only temporary as the shelters were being taken away for repairs. They would be back in their place soon, they added.
