Even as Kamarajar Central bus stand here was upgraded into ‘A’ grade bus stand a few years ago, it is lacking in infrastructure facilities for passengers and bus crew.
Even basic amenities are not provided adequately inside the bus stand.
Bus bays for mofussil buses going to Karur, Vedasandur, Erode and Salem and for local buses plying to Siluvathur, Vedasandur, Sendurai and Kambiliyampatti have no shelter for passengers.
All passengers have to wait for buses in the open, braving sunshine or rain.
Waiting rooms near Theni and Madurai bays are fully encroached upon by vendors, and benches and chairs are occupied by beggars and shop workers.
Street vendors, mostly fruit and flower sellers, encroach upon all platforms, leaving a narrow path for passenger to move around.
Clean surrounding is almost absent in all bus bays. Foul smell emanates from urinals and septic tanks inside the bus stand.
The worst affected is Vedasandur, Karur and Madurai bays. Sewage water overflowing from the septic tank of a lodge owned by the Dindigul Corporation at Vedasandur bus bay causes much inconvenience to passengers.
Pool of sewage water stagnates before hotels and fruit shops at this bay, spreading unbearable smell and polluting the atmosphere.
Owners of a hotel and other eateries near this bay spray phenol on the sewage every day and depute sanitary workers to flush out sewage water, stagnating before their premises.
“It has become a regular affair. We are tired of making complaints to the Corporation authorities and the lodge operator. They pay least attention to cleaning the septic tank and flushing out sewage safely. Unhygienic condition causes health problems,” said A. Murugan, a vendor.
Similarly, discharge from the urinals near Madurai bus bay forces commuters to stay away from the area.
Drivers and conductors too have brought the issue to the knowledge of the corporation, seeking construction of drainage channels for safe disposal of sewage.
The corporation was happy with revising the cess for entry of buses into the bus stand.
But it paid least attention to providing basic amenities to the passengers, said a section of the bus crew. They also appealed to the corporation to at least keep the environs clean.
