Traffic on Grand Southern Trunk Road that runs through Tirupparankundram is increasing every passing day. After construction of two road overbridges (ROB) on the south and north sides of Tirupparankundram, vehicles speed through this pilgrim town.
However, the location of bus stops on both sides of GST Road near West Car Street junction has been a major bottleneck. The road is not wide enough for two buses coming from opposite directions to cross each other. However, city buses from both directions - Madurai to Tirumangalam and vice versa - that pass through the temple bus stop often halt side by side at the same time. This virtually brings movement of all other vehicles to a standstill. “Until one of the buses start moving, no other vehicle from both directions can move,” a traffic police constable says. There is not even space for a two-wheeler to squeeze through once the two buses are stationary.
Besides, vehicles coming from Tirumangalam that proceed to the Subramaniaswamy Temple and those vehicles that need to come out of the West Car Street leaving the temple have to halt here till the buses move. This leads to piling of vehicles on both sides of GST Road and also on West Car Street.
A large number of vehicles transporting tourists and pilgrims visit the temple. Moreover, after the bus stops on Bypass Road along Thenkal kanmoi on the other side of the railway line were closed, all city buses have been diverted to take the GST Road, making it even busier.
According to R. Sekar, a resident, “At least 1,500 trips of buses that used to go through Bypass Road and Poonga bus stop have been diverted to take the GST Road inside the town and the narrow road is not able to handle this much traffic. If some of the buses are diverted to take the Bypass Road like before, it will decongest this road and also help residents of Devi Nagar, Balaji Nagar and other areas,” he says.
The congestion at the Temple bus stop is more pronounced when huge crowds descend on Tirupparankudram to attend the numerous weddings on auspicious days (suba muhurtham days), he says.
This problem has been raised with Corporation officials, says a traffic police. Attempt to shift one of the bus stops closer to a school met with some opposition.
Besides muhurtham days, festival days and girivalam days, the congestion poses a hardship for people from all walks of life.
The solution
The residents say shifting of an electric pole near the bus stop and the auto-rickshaw stand along with one of the bus stops will aid free flow of traffic.
