THANJAVUR: Commuters in Thanjavur have to wait in the open for buses, as Thanjavur City Corporation administration failed to reinstall the bus shelters, which were removed for widening roads, more than a year ago. According to officials of the city corporation, there are around 60 bus shelters across the city. Many of them were removed for taking up road extension works a year ago.
Though most of the road extension works were completed a few months after commencement, the removed bus shelters are yet to be reinstalled. M Kabilan, a resident of Natarajapuram area in the city, said that he and his family members had to wait in scorching heat or rain as there were no bus shelters. Students and other commuters are seen waiting in large numbers in Karanthai, Mary's corner bus stops without a shelter.
Similarly, main bus stops, including Aatru Palam (Irwin bridge) in Gandhiji road, Rohini hospital, Yagappa Nagar, Membalam, Ganapathy Nagar, Rajappa NAgar, LIC colony, Kodimarathu moolai don't have bus shelters, causing inconvenience to the commuters. "Besides reinstalling bus shelters, new bus shelters need to be constructed in bus stops where there were none already," pointed out Kabilan.
The officials of Thanjavur City Corporation said they had to get a no-objection certificate from the highways department to provide shelters in some stops. When contacted, Thanjavur Mayor S Ramanathan told TNIE that the shelters will be put in place at the earliest. He further added that new shelters will also be set up wherever they are needed.