The spacious Mogappair West bus terminus needs to be renovated, which includes provision of new bus shelters, digital timing boards, toilets, water taps and better lighting facilities; and repair of bus bays.
At present, the terminus operates more than 50 services to various places including Broadway, Guindy, T. Nagar, Anna Square, Mylapore, Velachery, Madhavaram and Tambaram with more than 45,000 commuters from the neighbourhood depending on these services. Office-goers and students constitute the majority of the commuters.
“The terminus is dusty and much of its concrete flooring has been washed away over the years. Senior citizens and children struggle to walk on the uneven surface at the terminus,” says S. Muthukumar, a commuter from Mogappair.
Covering more than one acre, the terminus is located at the centre of the neighbourhood connecting the locality with the Chennai Bypass and Anna Nagar. Much of the seating arrangements is damaged. The concrete bus bays and compound wall have developed many cracks. The terminus neither has digital timing board nor a working public announcement system. Most of the commuters prefer to wait near the entrance of the terminus due to the damaged and dusty seating facilities along the bus bays. Most of the lights at the terminus are not working, with many bulbs missing. The paint on the walls at the time-keeper’s office has peeled off due to poor maintenance over the years.
Security remains another concern for commuters, especially women and senior citizens, as boarding buses from the terminus after sunset is fraught with risk due to dim lighting and the lack of a proper security system. With much of top surface of the cement concrete flooring having been washed away, the terminus is now prone to inundation. The existing stormwater drains inside the terminus are also clogged, which prevents to discharge of excess rainwater from the facility.
The terminus was constructed more than two decades ago with bus services being operated mainly to Broadway. The terminus witnessed its first renovation a decade ago in 2010 when then local Maduravoyal MLA G. Beemrao allotted ₹ 53.50 lakh from his local constituency fund for the restoration of the terminus along with funds from MTC.
Concrete flooring, water taps, restrooms, shelters, bus bays and a time- keeper’s office were formed as part of the renovation work a decade ago. Commuters say that over the years poor maintenance by the MTC and the civic body has resulted in deterioration of the facility.
“Steps will be taken to restore the basic facilities at the terminus soon,” says an MTC official.
