The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : MTC bus depots flooded, services disrupted

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Saturday, Oct 28, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

MTC bus depots flooded, services disrupted

P. Oppili

Nearly 600 buses not operated on Friday because of rain

SUFFERING COMMUTERS: Let down by a poorly maintained MTC bus which broke down near the Padi junction on Friday, these commuters anxiously wait in the rain for another bus to take them to their destinations. — PHOTO: N. SRIDHARAN

CHENNAI : Five of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation's (MTC) depots reeled under heavy flooding, leading to depleted bus services on Friday.

Lakhs of commuters who depend on the MTC's 2,100 plus buses in the metropolis were left to suffer, sometimes for hours, waiting for a bus. The lack of supervision by officials also did not help, as commuters did not have anyone to turn to for making complaints about lack of or delay in services.

In suburbs such as Madipakkam and Ullagaram, commuters complained that there were almost no bus services operated in certain pockets. MTC officials told The Hindu that nearly 600 buses were not operated on Friday because of the rain.

One prime reason, they said, was water logging in the depots, as also no-shows by a number of crew. The ageing and rickety buses in the fleet also added to the problem, going by the number of vehicles that broke down on roads.

Passengers in the broken down buses had to wait in the heavy rain to catch another bus. Commuters in Saidapet said they had to wait for nearly 30 minutes for a bus to Anna Salai in the evening.

Senior MTC officials said that five depots -- Ambattur, Ennore, Iyappanthangal, Tambaram and Tiruvottiyur -- were flooded.

The worst affected was the Ambattur depot, which lay under nearly three feet of water. Because of the flooding, the authorities shifted the 150 buses there to Anna Nagar, Avadi and Ambattur OT terminus with 50 sent to each of the three depots, they said.

About 90 breakdowns are reported on a normal day, but on Friday about 120 cases were reported in the city.

Even the workers at the shed were not able to attend to repairs, as the sheds were flooded, MTC sources said.

All mainline trains to Chennai Egmore from southern districts arrived at least an hour late due to signal failures between Tiruchi and Egmore. Similarly trains that left Chennai Egmore on Thursday reached their destinations behind schedule.

Due to water logging on the track between Basin Bridge and Chennai Central, long-distance trains had to be detained at Basin Bridge. They were brought to Chennai Central after the rainwater drained. Suburban services were also hit because of the continuous rain.

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