Hi-tech bus shelters at the service of private companies

The advanced bus shelters built in the city are not for the comfort of the public, but for advertisements of private firms
Hi-tech bus shelters at the service of private companies

When crores were spent on setting up advanced bus shelters in the city in 2010, little did the public realize that those were built not for their comfort but mostly for advertisements of private companies! These so-called advanced bus shelters in various points in the city are nothing more than shelters with polyvinyl chloride-coated ceiling and uncomfortable seats for just four or five people. Such bus shelters can be seen at Vandippetta, East Nadakkavu, in front of the Head Post Office, near the Model Higher Secondary School,Town Hall and State Bank of Travancore Kozhikode branch office. Each of these shelters was constructed by shelling out `2.5 lakh for the technology alone. The bus shelters also promised facilities such as FM stations, chilled drinking water, round-the-clock internet access,police aid posts and surveillance cameras. The multi-crore project was inaugurated in 2010 by the then District Collector P B Salim. Each of these bus stops was supposed to have wi-fi connection as well. Kozhikode MLA A Pradeep Kumar points out, “What the commuters here need is a properly-designed bus shelter that can provide shade from heat and rain. These advanced bus shelters here are solely constructed to serve private firms for their advertisements.” He goes on to say that Kozhikode will get bus shelters with better designs in the future, which will be constructed using the MLAs’ fund. “Currently, the designs are ready, only the locations need to be selected. However, we might not be able to execute it this year. But, the commuters of the city will get good bus shelters,” says Pradeep Kumar. Works Standing Committee chairman M Mohanan says,“No work has been done to repair the defunct bus shelters as of now. We have to go through the details of those who were given the contract for the construction, for any further work on them.”

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