BANGALORE: University Law College and the Women's Hostel are located near a busy bus station known for its noise and chaos, not to speak of squalor and one can imagine what impact they are having on the students.

The two are situated on Palace Road, what was till recent decades a prestigious part of the city. The hostel was in the past the residence of the warden of the Central College Hostel, which has been closed down, as the college itself no longer exists. What one witnesses at the place is a typical case of urban blight.

Unnecessary din

The students and the girls residing in the hostel have to bear high decibels of noise. The plight of the latter is worse as they are residents of the place. They have to bear the shouts of the conductors of both the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses on the one side and the private buses on the other inviting commuters to Doddaballapur and places in between the city and that town.

Hardship for pedestrians

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses that stop just behind the bus stop from where buses going towards Doddaballapur start and the haphazard manner in which the buses are parked create a scene of impassable maze which the pedestrians find it difficult to resolve.

Adding to the confusion are the small vendors, who move about, stop and sell eatables to the passengers and pedestrians. The crowded place creates a lot of inconvenience to the pedestrians and commuters from the time the bus stop was shifted from the parallel Post Office Road — in front of the City Civil Court complex. The pedestrians complain that the bus stop has engendered squalor and pollution in and around the area.

Open air toilet

"Though there is a pay and use toilet near the bus stop, most people don't make use of it and ease themselves all over resulting in unbearable stench," complains Sujatha, a student of Central College. On the other hand, the residents of Bangalore University Women's Hostel, adjacent to the University Law College, feel that a bus stop near the hostel poses multiple problems besides making them insecure. "Strangers enter the hostel without the knowledge of the security guard and later when enquired give lame excuses before going out.

"This makes us feel insecure especially in the absence of the security guard. Earlier, we could move around freely but now that is not the case," says Sowmya, who lives in the hostel. On the bad roads, she said it was difficult to use Palace Road during the rainy season. "At times, buses stop in front of our hostel and we have to shout at the drivers to move their vehicles," she said.

A student of University Law College said, "There is disturbance and because of the noise we find it difficult to concentrate in our classes." The Traffic Controller at the bus stop, Kunnayya, refuted these statements and blamed private operators who run services from the area for the inconvenience.

"As many as 24 KSRTC buses ply from this stop and make 85 trips a day. KSRTC buses are always parked on the left side of the road but the private buses are stationed on the right side and they operate illegally causing traffic congestion on the road," says Mr. Kunnayya.

BMTC has permission?

Asked about the illegal operation of buses, Somashekar, owner of a private bus service, contradicted the opinion of the Traffic Controller and said: "We have permission to run bus services from this place and we park our buses near the petrol station, opposite the Law College which does not create any traffic congestion."

But confirming the statement made by the Traffic Controller, the KSRTC Traffic Divisional Officer, Prabhakar Reddy, said: "We had to shift to this place because of the one-way system but private buses here are given only contract carriage permit and they are not permitted to run services from this place. Despite the restrictions, 14 private buses operate illegally because of which KSTRC has to incur a loss of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 40,000 a day."

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