Three years after the renovation the Kovur bus terminus, carried out at a cost of ₹ 7 lakh, which was drawn from MLA funds of Alandur Assembly constituency, the facility has been grossly underutilised.
The terminus has seating arrangements and shelters, but commuters are not in a position to use them. For, buses of Metropolitan Transport Corporation halt outside the terminus. Commuters board and alight from buses parked on Porur-Kundrathur Main Road, which is maintained by the State Highways Department.
MTC officials say the terminus is not spacious enough, and therefore bus drivers find it difficult to take a turn and get on to Porur-Kundrathur Main Road, or get into the terminus from this road.
With MTC buses halting outside the terminus, the facility has been encroached upon by auto-rickshaw drivers and cab drivers. Beggars and miscreants sleep on the concrete slabs.
“Initially, buses were parked inside the terminus on the insistence of terminus officials, but the practice declined gradually. We too did not insist on it as the police said the entry and exit of buses resulted in traffic chaos on Porur-Kundrathur Main Road,” says an MTC official.
While conceding that the police and bus drivers have a point, commuters say an alternative arrangement has to be found to prevent these traffic snarls, and the decision to allow buses to halt outside should be revoked.
Now, with rains being frequent, commuters want the buses to be halted inside the terminus.
Only a small make-shift time-keeper room functions at the terminus. From the terminus, on an average, over 120 services are operated to Iyyapanthangal, Vadapalani, Mandavali and Poonamallee every day.
