The intensity of the summer has not waned, and bus bays and shelters – either absent or poorly-designed – have only added to the heat. Several of the bus sheds being poorly designed and not properly maintained, they offer commuters little protection against the relentless onslaught of the sun. Even localities that are considered more developed and modern than the rest of them in the suburbs, surprisingly lack bus shelters.
Near Dr. Kamakshi Memorial Hospital on Velachery Pallikaranai Road, in Sembakkam, Sholinganallur, Medavakkam, and near Madras Christian College (MCC), commuters can be seen waiting for their buses without any protective sheet over their head. There are no seating arrangements. In fact, there are no bus sheds in most of these areas.
S. Sri Hari, a commuter who boards his buses at the MCC stop, describes the problem in very harsh terms, “Not having a shelter is a curse!” He is not alone, almost everyone one meets at stops without proper shelters spews out vitriolic words.
For want of a well-designed bus shelter at the Camp Road Bus Stop, commuters, mostly women and senior-citizens, were seen taking shelter at shops near the bus stop. Considering Camp Road is a key stop on the Velachery Main Road, a major stretch, a small and poor-designed bus shelter is inexcusable.
M. Nandini, an employee at a private company said, “There is no shade anywhere near this bus stop, and we have to wait at the shops which are a little further from the stop. And when our bus arrives, we have to sprint towards it,” she pointed out.
There are some shelters properly built with side walls that keep the intrusive sun out, but they are taken over by beggars and vagabonds.
