A bus stand for Thuvakudi has remained elusive for several years now, much to the consternation of the residents of the Grade III Municipality.
A small open space devoid of amenities in less than half an acre is what remains now without even a modicum of shelter for passengers. Not surprisingly, buses choose to avoid the spot as a chunk of the existing space that is not enough to accommodate even two to three buses at a given point of time is utilised by the surrounding shops for parking of their vehicles. Also, waste water is let into the open causing a slushy condition.
A large part of the space meant for the bus stand that used to function on a nearly seven acre expanse has been encroached over the decade. Owners of shops at the encroached part, who had secured a stay order to pre-empt eviction, have begun to feel the heat.
Since the stay order has reportedly been vacated, the Municipality now has an opportunity to get a full-fledged bus stand established.
Buses are being operated to additional destinations like Keeranur and Iluppur, and the absence of a bus stand has indeed caused enormous difficulty, the Muncipality Chairman E.Kayambu agrees. According to him, the onus is on the National Highways Authority of India to retrieve the encroached part for construction of the bus stand.
The municipality has in its ambit nearly 300 ancillary units of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, the National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi, Government Polytechnic College, and the State Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology.
The number of workers using the bus stand has been rising by the day. Being the most industrialised part in Tiruchi district, the municipality with 21 wards on a 14.5 square kilometre, witnesses proliferation of residential localities.
Following the four-laning of the Tiruchi-Thanjavur National Highway, buses mostly stop and turn around at the spot where a road branches off to Vazhavandankottai. “This practice has added to disarray. Accidents occur frequently at the spot,” said R.Natarajan, a CPI (M) Councillor.
Now that the rainy season has started, the municipality should lose no time in establishing a temporary shelter and toilet facilities for the convenience of thousands of workers using the facility, he emphasised.
The scope for fast-paced action is bleak since the government is due to announce elections to the local bodies. Abdul Kareem, a shop keeper, appeared reconciled to an endless wait.
Nevertheless, he, like others, has not lost hope.
As he, like others, believe that the main contestants will compete in highlighting the poll plank of establishing the bus stand at the earliest.
