The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bus shelters seem to be left unused

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bus shelters seem to be left unused

K. Manikandan

Parking of lorries on service lanes prevents buses from halting at shelters

PRONE TO ACCIDENT: An MTC bus halts on the carriageway, as the service lane is usurped by lorries on the GST Road. — Photo: K. Manikandan

TAMBARAM : Saturday's accident at Urapakkam near here where a lorry killed two persons waiting at a bus stop has brought into focus the abject status of bus bays and bus shelters that no longer serve the purpose of convenience.

Even three days after the accident, the identity of the second victim, who died in hospital, is yet to be established. Eswara Pillai died on the spot when the lorry dashed against a barricade separating the service road and the main carriageway of the National Highway 45, popularly known as Grand Southern Trunk Road.

Bus shelters at a cost of about Rs. 3 lakh each were built at many places by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as part of the widening and improvement of the GST Road under the Centre's golden quadrilateral programme, officials said.

While at some places new shelters were built at the bus stops, in a few places, they were built away from the stops owing to non-availability of land and for other technical reasons. Service roads with bus bays were also provided near the bus shelters. However, State-run buses pick up waiting commuters after halting on the main road. Staff of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation at Guduvanchery bus terminus said buses could not enter service roads to reach the shelters, because of parking of lorries and other commercial vehicles. In Vandalur and Urapakkam, the NHAI's shelters hardly serve any purpose and seem to be more like abandoned structures.

Senior officials of the NHAI said provision of bus shelters and bus bays were an integral part of improvement works on GST Road. The facilities were provided for the convenience of commuters and safety of all motorists. State-run buses have to halt near the shelters on service roads to pick up passengers, but there was little cooperation from the Transport and Police departments or even local bodies, they added.

The MTC staff said they would only be glad to use the service roads, provided the lanes were made free of obstructions.

Police said it was not possible to allot a constable for each and every bus shelter, considering the current staff crunch. Residents of Urapakkam and Vandalur and members of voluntary organisations have called for coordinated efforts to ensure that amenities built with tax-payers' money were put to the best use, instead of pushing them into disuse.

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