The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Friday issued notice to the Managing Director of the KSRTC, seeking an action-taken report on steps being taken to ensure a well-maintained and hygienic restroom in the Ernakulam depot for the bus crew.
The commission initiated suo motu proceedings since no action had been taken despite it ordering proper restrooms for drivers and conductors. The action-taken report must be submitted within three weeks, said Antony Dominic, Chairman of the commission. He noted that crew members had to wade through dirty water to enter the restroom. The situation inside the room was no better. The roof leaked and crew slept on cots that had been raised using bricks. They also had to pump out water often times from the room. The walls had become extremely damp while the windows were on the verge of collapse. The menace posed by mosquitoes was yet another issue and further hindered the sleep of the crew members who needed much-needed rest after manning long-distance buses. It was high time a modern facility was readied for them, he observed.
The KSRTC had done little, although the SHRC had issued many similar directives during the past decade about the condition of the restroom, the waiting area for passengers, and the workshop-cum-garage.
Responding to the development, Biju Prabhakar, MD of KSRTC, said that steps were under way to introduce air-conditioned resting spaces for crew by converting old buses. Each converted bus would have beds, lockers and dining space for up to 16 crew members. A mobile unit would be readied in Karipur, while two static structures had been planned in Pappanamcode in Thiruvananthapuram and one in Ernakulam, he said.
On the dilapidated structure which houses the restroom, Mr. Prabhakar said it would be demolished.
