More than 3 months after they were completed, a cluster of mobile toilets, that is bound to bring immense relief to commuters waiting at the Peerkankaranai bus terminus, is yet to be made operational.
Elected representatives and town panchayat staff maintain that all the civil works as well as procedural formalities of handing over work orders for maintaining the toilets have been completed and are unable to state the reasons for the delay.
The installation of the toilets addressed the concerns of residents of Peerkankaranai as also commuters who were unhappy with the National Highways Authority of India for failing to provide even basic amenities at the terminus.
Over the past two years, Peerkankaranai has become an important terminus. This is due to the diversion of State government long distance and other private buses from Koyambedu towards Chengalpattu via Chennai Bypass instead of Grand Southern Trunk Road owing to construction of Metro Rail and other projects.
Apart from Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses, those operated by State Express Transport Corporation and Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation’s various depots halt here to pick up passengers. Considering the huge volume of buses passing through the terminus, basic amenities are abysmally low. This had prompted the town panchayat to install the toilets at a cost of Rs. 3 lakh. There are four ‘pay and use’ units and the sewage generated will be treated through a process of bio-remediation and collection in a huge tank underground.
Passengers arriving at Peerkankaranai in long distance government buses, especially women, face very difficult conditions due to the delay. There have been incidents of people being run over by trains while crossing the railway lines to get to a bathroom. Members of Kamarajar Nagar residents welfare association appealed to the town panchayat to make the toilets operational without any further delay.
