The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : No roof, no place to sit at Ambattur terminus

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

No roof, no place to sit at Ambattur terminus

By K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI, JULY 22. While some bus terminals in the city look modern and even sport display screens, the Ambattur OT bus terminus lacks even the basic amenities--from roofing to seats for waiting commuters.

The terminus has remained roofless for over 10 years since its inception, Ambattur residents say.

K. Radha, who commutes every day to her office on Mount Road said, "I have been carrying an umbrella permanently, whether rain or shine, for the past five years since I started boarding buses from here."

Passengers have to stand until they board a bus as there is no seating arrangement in place. Unlike other bus terminals, this one does not have a public address system to announce bus timings. Residents have little option but to depend on guesswork and memory.

Except for a few buses parked in the open, it is difficult to identify the place as a terminus. Street vendors and autorickshaws have encroached upon the terminus, she added.

Motorists often use it as a thoroughfare to avoid traffic on the Madras Tiruvallur Road, along which the terminus is located, residents said. Commuters at the terminus often need to take cover behind the buses to evade vehicles.

Haphazard parking

T. Mohan, a resident of Vinayagapuram, complained that the mushrooming of commercial establishments on Mounasamy Madam Road next to the terminus had raised a new problem - haphazard parking of vehicles, encroachments on the road space and in the terminus.

A resident of Vijayalakshmipuram said political parties and local associations conveniently used the roofless terminus as a public meeting spot. "Being a vantage spot, this place becomes a platform for groups of people to voice their views." He also pointed out that a temporary autorickshaw stand had encroached upon the terminus.

Residents want traffic personnel deployed in the narrow junction adjacent the bus stand to streamline peak hour traffic. Though the Ambattur Municipality passed a resolution in July 1997 to shift the terminus to a site near Oragadam, action was pending, they said.

They also want the stretch widened from the road overbridge near TI cycles company to Rakki theatre to ease traffic flow and reduce the risk of pedestrians being hit by vehicles that descend from the bridge. The junction near Ramaswamy Mudaliar Higher Secondary School is another such bottleneck that needs attention.

Tenders invited

Responding to the residents' plight, the Ambattur Municipal Chairman, K. Rukmangatan, said tenders had been called for to provide shelter at the terminus at a cost of Rs. 5 lakhs.

Recalling that the place was provided with concrete flooring three years ago, he said it would be equipped with basic facilities within three months.

Representation for widening of the stretch and deploying traffic personnel had been made to authorities concerned and the problem it would be solved soon, he added.

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