Cattle owners have literally converted the Villivakkam Bus Terminus into a cow shed, causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters and residents.
Spread over a 1.5 acre area, the Villivakkam bus terminus has the facility to accommodate 50 MTC buses and is one of the main terminuses that connects this part of the city with Adyar, Velachery, Foreshore Estate and Koyambedu among other places in the city.
According to official sources, more than 50,000 commuters pass through the stretch at an average.
Ranganathan, a resident of Villivakkam says, “Though the bus terminus is a sprawling one, it is poorly maintained with neither the transport authorities nor the corporation officials evincing any interest in its upkeep. On the other hand, cattle owners in the adjoining areas have a free hand, allowing the animals to take shelter and make the place dirty. They don’t even look after the animals properly. Motorists have a tough time,” he bemoans. According to locals, the traditionally cattle rearing ‘Konar’ community reside in close proximity to the terminus. The land, in which bus terminus is located presently, was once used as a cow barn by the community. Later, even after construction of the terminus, people belonging to the community have encroached upon the place, says Ranganathan.
Guruparan, a conductor with an MTC bus regretted that the bus terminus was renovated a couple of months ago by spending a huge amount of money. But, all that had turned futile because of the stray cattle menace. In his view, most of the road accidents on this stretch were solely due to the loitering cows and bulls.
“It’s not clear why the officials concerned are looking the other way rather than taking stern action? Why do they allow the terminus being converted into a cow barn?” he asks.
Interestingly, the cattle owners, who allow the animals to loiter, would descend on the spot if the animal was injured in an accident, claiming compensation. Even MTC staff are not spared!
Brushing aside these complaints, a cattle owner justified the use of the terminus as a cow barn saying “There is no other safer place to keep these innocent animals!” On condition of anonymity, he said, “There is no one to deter us to use the terminus as a make shift cow barn. Even the transport authorities were tired of telling us not to bring the cattle here. But all their efforts have gone in vain. Taking advantage of this, many other cattle owners from other areas too, have started using this place as cowshed. The menace is not confined to this place as it is common across the city. Due to lack of common grazing land, we are pushed to encroach upon such places,” he reasons.
When contacted, Corporation officials said, “On an average, the Corporation catches 70 to 80 cattle per month. We have two cattle depot each in Perambur and in Pudupet. We impose a fine of `1,550/- on cattle owners. We keep those cattle for three days in the depot. If nobody makes a claim, the cattle would then be handed over to the Blue Cross”.
“We also requested the Corporation to provide additional vehicles to catch and transport the stray cattle. Apart from many steps taken by the corporation, it is the responsibility of the cattle-owners to look after their animals,” they maintained.