No shade of mercy as commuters offered free sunbath at bus shelters in Chennai
CHENNAI: Forced to wait under the scorching sun without any shade, commuters at several bus stops across the city are left fuming. They blame it on the shifting of regular bus shelters owing to the second phase work of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).
T Yazhlini (27), a Madras High Court lawyer, said she takes a direct bus from her residence in Mylapore to the court. But she dreads that she has to visit a client’s office in Nungambakkam. “I take a bus to Nungambakkam, but due to the modified routes due to the CMRL construction, they drop me someplace away from the regular bus stop. There’s no proper shelter there. And there is no connectivity to other areas from the spot. I have to walk in the heat for a while before finding a share auto,” she added.
Echoing similar concerns, R Dhanush (25), a charted accountant from Kundrathur, said the bus stop at Porur was recently shifted to another place. “My father has to drop me or I will have to walk all the way under this merciless sun. Even after reaching there, I have to brave the scorching heat as there is no roof or shelter there,” he said.
When contacted, top officials of both CMRL and the Greater Chennai Corporation on Wednesday said they would take steps to establish temporary shelters at the new bus stoppages. However, neither the metro rail nor the corporation officials did not know how many bus shelters were affected by the ongoing metro rail work.
“We will identify the affected shelters and commence necessary work along with assistance from the CMRL,” a senior GCC official said. Meanwhile, CMRL Managing Director M A Siddique said that he has asked the project team to provide alternative bus shelters in city immediately.