Thanks to Tilakan, the crusader, soon commuters can sit comfortably at Kerala bus shelters!

LSGD Principal Secretary issued a Government Order, which directs to replace the “unscientific” round steel rods at bus stops with alternative seating arrangements.
A bus shelter with round steel rod seating at Lisie junction in Kochi
A bus shelter with round steel rod seating at Lisie junction in KochiPhoto | T P Sooraj
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KOCHI: For the last 30 years, C S Tilakan, a Kodungallur native, has been fighting for the rights of consumers, often bringing relief to hundreds to his never-say-die attitude. Thanks to this 78-year-old crusader’s latest endeavour, passengers can now sit comfortably at bus shelters.

It was so far a common practice in the state to set up round steel rods in bus shelters as seating facilities for passengers waiting for buses. However, the same was only posing difficulty to commuters, who couldn’t sit properly and many got scared of slipping and falling down. The steel rods soon became a subject of trolls in the social media, with many wondering their usage to passengers.

Tilakan, the Secretary of the Applicants and Consumers Forum, took up the issue and made a sustained campaign to put an end to the practice. He finally wrote to M B Rajesh, Minister for Local Self Governments, which finally caught the attention of the authorities. As a result, the LSGD Principal Secretary issued a Government Order, which directs to replace the “unscientific” round steel rods at bus stops with alternative seating arrangements.

“I came to know about the issue when I came across the trolls on social media. During my travels, this issue caught my attention numerous times. Most of the bus stops in Kodungallur and in towns in Tripunithura were having such round steel rods.

Our forum took up the issue and began the campaigning. I wrote a letter, highlighting the issue, along with the picture of such bus shelters,” said Tilakan, who is now a Director Board member of the Pullut Cooperative Bank, Kodungallur.

“It’s been directed to give direction to the local self institutions concerned to take necessary action to replace the steel pipes in such bus shelters with alternative seating arrangements that are comfortable to commuters,” the order signed by Semi Gopinath G, Deputy Secretary, read.

“The passengers could easily slip and fall, especially if they are wearing polyester clothes. Most of such bus shelters are built using the funds of local self institutions, besides that of MLAs and MPs.

Tilakan
Tilakan

The order makes it clear that they should take up the corrective work at the bus shelters that they built. I’ve written a letter to Kodungallur MLA Adv V R Sunilkumar who took the initiative in ensuring that the new bus shelter being built before the mini civil station has comfortable chairs,” a beaming Tilakan said.

The crusader’s fights in the past too led to fruitful actions. “My first successful campaign was to set up a new telephone exchange in Kodungallur nearly 30 years ago. Then there was no mobile phone and all. I could bring the issue to a central minister and a telephone exchange was set up here,” he quipped.

He was also instrumental in the allotment of two gas agencies in the area. “There was a time when people had to wait for weeks altogether for getting a gas cylinder. The demand was twice that of the supply.

The forum took up the issue and licenses were given to a couple of agencies. Now the gas cylinders will be delivered the next day of residents booking the order,” said Tilakan, who retired from the Kodungallur Town Cooperative Bank in 2004.

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