DHARMAPURI: Nallampalli residents have urged the district administration to operate more town bus services to the region, which is a taluk headquarters and houses key commercial markets. The residents said the number of services operating through the town dropped drastically after the inauguration of the New Bus Stand near Sogathur.
Nallampalli Munnetra Peravai, in a petition filed during the grievance redressal day meeting at the collectorate on Monday, said many buses from Salem are now taking the NH-44 to reach the New Bus Stand directly, and the number of services between Nallampalli and Dharmapuri has drastically reduced. They claimed that dozens of panchayats are now facing severe shortage of buses.
Nallampalli Munnetra Peravai president K Vijayakumar said, "Over 90% of the buses have stopped entering Nallampalli. While departing from Salem, bus crew members clarified to passengers that the services would only go to the New Bus Stand and not to Nallampalli or Dharmapuri. Thus, farmers are facing severe challenges in accessing markets in the morning and healthcare services at night."
V Kuppan, secretary of the association, said, "Residents from dozens of rural panchayats use public transportation from Nallampalli. Now that the bus services have been reduced, thousands are being affected."
When TNIE reached out, officials of the Regional Transport Office said the issue would be investigated and action would be taken if buses are found not adhering to the prescribed routes.