Karnataka   

CBT is a shambles

The City Bus Terminal (CBT) in Hubli was inaugurated in 1958. In 1962, the municipal council was merged with the Dharwad Municipal Council to form the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, and since then the twin cities have grown by leaps and bounds.

New extensions have come up in Hubli and the population has increased substantially. Over the years, the public transport system has been strengthened with the NWKRTC increasing the frequency of city schedules.

Of the 67 wards in the twin cities, 47 are in Hubli. A large number of city buses ply carrying thousands of people. Many things have changed in the city over the years, but the place where the city buses start their journey is still the same even after nearly five decades. While the approach roads to the CBT are good, the roads within the CBT premises are in a bad shape.

The bus shelters that are covered with asbestos sheets provide little protection to commuters during rain; and in summer it is impossible to take shelter there.

There are no public toilets, no proper seating arrangements, no drinking water facility and no proper information display system.

The reasons for the sorry state of the city bus terminal in a city, which is being projected as the next IT destination, are best known to the elected representatives and the officials, who have turned a blind eye towards its pathetic condition. Such is the apathy of the officials that no action has been taken against people who have encroached on the CBT area, making it even more congested.

It is not that the people are not complaining. But most of the times it is just limited to cursing the “people concerned” and it doesn’t go beyond that.

Only a few organisations such as the Gajanan Mahamandal have taken up the issue, but that has not made the officials act.

NWKRTC officials say there is a plan for developing CBT at a cost of Rs. 5 crore.

But before that the encroachments have to be cleared, which, they say, would take time.

But how long the “next IT destination” has to wait to get a better city bus terminal?

Girish S. Pattanashetti in Hubli

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