Residents of Sholinganallur and Perumbakkam have requested the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) to change the route of the bus service 119, a cut service between Velachery and Sholinganallur. They want it to be routed through Medavakkam and Pallikaranai.
At present, the bus plies through Rajiv Gandhi Salai and Taramani. R. Raghu, a resident of Perumbakkkam, says, “Residents of Perumbakkam and Sholinganallur submitted a petition seeking a new bus service between Velachery and Sholinganallur. As requested, the MTC introduced a service between the said destinations. However, instead of routing it through Medavakkam and Pallikaranai, they operated it through Taramani and Thoraipakkam.”
Services 570 (Kelambakkam to CMBT), 570S (Siruseri IT Park to CMBT) and M119 (Guindy to Chemmanchery) ply through Sholinganallur, Karapakkam and Perungudi on Rajiv Gandhi Salai, touching Velachery in the process. The frequency of these services is high and they enjoy good patronage. However, owing to traffic congestion on IT Corridor and ongoing grade separator work on Velachery Main Road, it takes these services at least an hour to reach Velachery. So, if the bus is diverted via Medavakkam and Pallikaranai, the travel time will go down considerably,” says R. Abhinaya, a resident of Perumbakkam.
Currently, commuters are forced to go to Medavakkam bus stop by shareautorickshaws or use their own transport options to board buses bound for Velachery, which include 5A (East Tambaram -T.Nagar), 51 (Velachery-Tambaram West, Medavakkam Koot Road), A51 (East Tambaram–Broadway, Velachery). When contacted, MTC officials promised to do the needful.
