HYDERABAD: Commuters depending on the public transport are at the receiving end as they have to suffer scorching sun while waiting for buses at the bus stops. Nearly 40 per cent bus bays lack bus shelters in Greater Hyderabad limits.
Of the 1,699 bus stops located in the GHMC area, there are bus shelters only for about 945 locations and the remaining 754 places have no bus shelters and commuters are forced to stand in the open.
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has informed the chief secretary Rajiv Sharmaof the issue during the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) for Hyderabad Metropolitan Area (HMA) meeting held recently.
Even the condition of the existing 945 bus shelters are in pathetic state and poorly maintained as majority of them do not have proper sheds and seating arrangements. The TSRTC has urged the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to take up renovation of the existing bus shelters.
For the convenience of the commuters, TSRTC has been requesting the GHMC for establishing bus shelters at designated places on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis but the response from GHMC is lukewarm.
Apart from establishing bus shelters, TSRTC has requested the state government to provide bus bays for parking buses near Metro rail stations to drop and pick up passengers as well as to allocate space to provide bus pass counters, advance reservations and control room etc.
As many as 66 metro stations are proposed to come up on three corridors, from L B Nagar to Miyapur, Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma and Nagole to Shilparamam. TSRTC has also sought to provide accessibility to 11 MMTS stations. Of the 26 MMTS stations, bus accessibility is provided at 15 MMTS stations.
TSRTC has urged the state government to allot lands for construction of bus depots at 34 places in HMA area covering Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Medak.
The TSRTC which sought lands for bus depots are Medchal, Ghatkesar, Narisingi, Quthbullapur, Shamirpet, Manneguda, Aliabad, Gandi Maisamma crossroads, Turkapally, Cheryial, Keesaragutta, Damarigadda, Ellatkanda, Murtuzaguda, Koheda-Pasumamula, Rachaluru, Batasingaram, Dameralapally, Tangutur, Yacharam, Abdullapurmet, Kandavada, Uppatpally and Mailardevpally in Rangareddy district.
Nandigama, Lingareddyguda and Teegapur in Mahboobnagar. Ameenpur, Hathnoor, Bhanur, Muthangi, Ghanpur and Shankerpally in Medak, Pochampally in Nalgoda etc.