CHENNAI: Commuters and MTC crew at the Besant Nagar bus depot are forced to either hold their bladder or take a leak at whichever spot they find ideal for the ‘job’.
The depot, located close to the Elliot’s Beach and the Annai Vailankanni Church, connects key areas like T Nagar, Mylapore, Poonamallee, Tambaram and Ayanavaram with more than 500 trips made by close to 90 buses. Around 5,000 people make use of this facility on a daily basis.
However, the bus depot does not have a toilet facility, and male passengers and MTC crew are seen urinating on the compound wall of the Corporation Community Centre situated right opposite the depot.
The nearest toilet is about 300 metres away from the depot, on First Main Road. However, women passengers, fearing that they would miss the bus, do not take the risk of walking all the way to this toilet maintained by the Chennai Corporation. Passengers using the depot complained that the area surrounding it reeks of urine. With poor frequency of buses to Thoraipakkam, commuters generally have to wait for 30 to 45 minutes. “Though one side of the depot has chairs, the stench deters commuters from taking them. So they prefer sitting on the platforms on the other side,” said S Vijay, an IT professional who uses the depot. Devaraj, an MTC conductor, said that while most other bus depots in Chennai had toilet facility, the Besant Nagar depot lacked basis amenities ever since it was established. Earlier, it was operated as a bus terminus and then made a depot to provide better facilities. A wall was also built here to keep away drunks visiting the nearby TASMAC outlet. Sakuntala, who sells food nearby, said that tipplers continue to create problems for commuters and sometimes end up dirtying the depot, making its condition worse. Pointing out that lack of hygiene could also lead to outbreak of diseases, commuters have urged the authorities to construct toilets at the depot.