The absence of adequate, well-maintained public conveniences in West Tambaram is taking a toll on the sanitation around the bus terminus. The problem is worsening by the day and the residents living on streets near the terminus have to put up with the practice of people relieving themselves outside their homes.
Unlike other bus terminuses, the facility in Tambaram lacks a permanent structure and buses of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation are parked on either side of the GST Road.
More than 1,000 MTC buses and also those operated by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation originate from Tambaram and several hundred more pass through the town daily.
An estimated two lakh commuters use the Tambaram terminus every day, but the public amenities are inadequate.
There is a free toilet on Rajaji Salai at the corner of the terminus. However, its maintenance is anything but good. Sewage overflowing from this toilet stagnates on the margins.
Buses to Ambattur and Red Hills are parked beyond Rajaji Salai and as there is no toilet here, MTC crew, commuters and passers-by use a stretch of Bhaktavatsalam Street as a toilet. According to a woman resident whose house is next to the terminus, it is a nauseating experience as people use the street as toilet throughout the day and night.
She was seen engaging a couple of men to clear garbage and filth around her house a few days ago. Shops near the terminus dump their waste, including kitchen, paper and plastic wastes, at the street-end. She pointed out that it was embarrassing for women pedestrians when they crossed this stretch to reach the terminus.
The problem is no different on the East Tambaram side where buses bound for Thiruvanmiyur, Velachery, T.Nagar and other parts of the city are parked along Velachery Main Road.
Senior officials of the MTC said construction and maintenance of toilets around terminus were the responsibility of the respective local bodies. MTC crew have also been demanding restroom facilities in the Tambaram terminus, they said.
Tambaram Municipal Chairman E. Mani said that many representations had been received from the residents on unhygienic conditions around the terminus. The local body would build temporary urinals soon.
