THANJAVUR: The Thanjavur old bus stand, which was redeveloped under the Smart Cities Mission scheme at a cost of Rs 14.88 crore and opened in December 2021, is plagued by issues such as encroachment by shopkeepers and lack of drinking water facility.
The bus stand, which remained closed for reconstruction work from September 8, 2019, was inaugurated by Chief Minister M K Stalin through video conferencing on December 8, 2021 and became operational on December 21.
The redeveloped bus stand has 39 bays, mostly for town buses operated from Thanjavur and inter-city buses operated to Ariyalur. Though the terminus is only three months old, drinking water dispensing kiosk with four taps at the eastern end is not functional.
"People waiting for buses are forced to buy water owing to this," said R Arunachalam of Kakkarakkottai village, who used to take a bus to his village from the stand. Besides, most owners of the 40 shops located inside the stand have encroached upon the passenger area, which was already narrow.
On Tuesday, passengers waiting for buses could be seen spilling over to the parking bay in the scorching heat, as there wasn't much space in the passenger area. Very few chairs alone were provided in the area. Though chairs are found in the small waiting hall, people feel that they would not be able to see the buses bound for their destination from the halls and hence they preferred waiting outside.
However, moving around is difficult for passengers as several shopkeepers have extended their shops beyond the rooms allocated to them, and in some cases, occupy more than half the passenger area. "Even the front portion of the control room of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation was occupied by the shopkeepers and only after complaints was the area cleared," said D Mathivanan, State deputy president of TNSTC Workers Federation.
Further, Arunachalam said public utilities like bus stands maintained by the Corporation should have free toilets or at least free urinals. But all the three toilets in the bus stand are pay-and-use facilities, he added.
When contacted, city Mayor S Ramanathan said he would initiate action to dispense drinking water in the booth and issue notices to shopkeepers who have encroached upon passenger area.