Commuters face the heat in the absence of bus shelters

Mayor Ravinder Singh says that they will come up on completion of the road widening works

Left in the lurch:Commuters waiting for buses under the hot sun in Karimnagar on Monday.- Photo. Thakur Ajay Pal Singh

Even as the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar (MCK) is eyeing for the Smart city status, the town is the only one in the region which does not have bus shelters for the protection of commuters from the sweltering heat waves.

Though, the town has growing in leaps and bounds after it was upgraded into municipal corporation 11 years ago, the municipal authorities have failed to provide basic amenities to citizens. The bus commuters are forced to stand under the scorching sun waiting for buses in various parts of the town.

Four years ago, then Collector Smita Sabharwal, who was also special officer of MCK, conceived the novel project called ‘Mana Nagaram - Mana Karimnagaram’ for the beautification of the city involving local philanthropists. During the period, the authorities designed traffic islands and decided to set up bus shelters.

Accordingly, the municipal staff constructed bus shelters without providing any basic facilities, like benches. At places, commuters were forced to stand on the roads as the RTC buses do not stop at the bus shelters. Majority of the shelters have been occupied by traders and autorickshaw drivers, forcing commuters to stand on roads.

In the meantime, the RTC introduced local bus services sanctioned under the JNNURM scheme to Karimnagar town in January this year.

Against the total 70 buses sanctioned, the RTC introduced 16 local buses in the first phase.

Incidentally, there is good response to the local bus services with good occupancy ratio. But, the non-availability of bus shelters and encroachment of bus-bays by the auto-rickshaws had become a big menace.

The dilapidated old bus shelters have become a safe haven for hooligans too. The commuters urged the authorities to check auto menace at bus bays as they obstruct the movement of buses and commuters, besides leading to accidents.

When contacted, Mayor S Ravinder Singh said that they would provide bus shelters in the town after the R&B authorities complete the road widening works which were pending for long.