CHENNAI: It’s that time of the year again when umbrellas and sunglasses are a common sight, and pedestrians look for shelter to avoid wilting in the sun. With the mercury just beginning to rise, travelling by bus has already become a forgettable experience for many commuters who have to suffer the battered conditions and lack of amenities at several bus termini across the city. Take the High Court bus terminus for example. Hundreds of passengers are left sweating under the scorching sun, with no place to rest their feet or have a glass of water to quench their thirst. Express visited other termini across the city, only to find that the plight of the passengers was similar everywhere. Many major bus termini lacked basic civic amenities while some, including the one at High Court, lacked bus bays, and shelters for drivers and conductors too.
Passengers’ plight
Commuters at Tiruvottiyur, IOC, Mint, Tollgate (Sungachavadi), Red Hills and High Court termini have no respite. “During summer, the bus gets hot (to sit in) and during monsoon, water starts leaking through the roof. There is no shelter here (IOC terminus) for people to sit either,” said Rajesh Kumar, a commuter. Tiruvottiyur and Mint terminals are temporary ones that have been built to facilitate the ongoing Metro Rail works. There are no toilets for passengers and MTC staff members here. While there are two e-toilets in the High Court terminus, it does not have water supply. People urinate in the open and sully the terminus premises. A bus driver on route 56 of High Court, on condition of anonymity, said that it is the duty of the Corporation to maintain the e-toilets. But after they set it up a few years ago, the officials seem to have forgotten about it.
Menace in Mint
A visit to the Mint terminus was equally worrying. The absence of a compound makes it easy for cattle to enter the premises, causing fear among passengers. Cows are tethered inside the terminus, and construction debris is dumped here. Garbage menace is another unending woe. Open urination and garbage dumping are issues prevalent even in the most popular Broadway bus terminus — the city’s largest terminal — through which about 100 buses ply every day. “Sometimes, private vehicles also enter the terminus from the TNPSC Road and exit through NSC Bose Road here. Nobody monitors this,” said a conductor at Broadway.
Restore and reuse
When contacted, an MTC official said the bus termini are renovated as and when they get funds from the local MLAs. “We renovated the Mogappair terminus with MLA funds. Similarly, it would be carried out in other places too,” said the official. The MTC official added that the termini shifted by the CMRL for Metro work would be restored by the latter before handing it over to them. “Currently, the CMRL is restoring the Old Mint terminus with all the amenities,” said the official.
3500 MTC buses in the city
71 bus termini