THANJAVUR: In an attempt to keep private vehicles from obstructing bus movement in the Thanjavur new bus stand but still allow them to ply between the parallel No. 1 Vallam road and the Vallam quarry road through a shortcut cutting across the public facility, the Thanjavur city corporation has commenced work on a ‘U’-shaped peripheral road spanning a length of 900 metres on the stand premises.
The new bus stand, which was developed in 1995 for the World Tamil Conference to avoid congestion in the old bus stand situated in the erstwhile fortified area of the city, commenced full-fledged operations in 1997. The exit road of the bus stand that joins the No. 1 Vallam road, however, now doubles up as unauthorised thoroughfare for traffic running between the No. 1 Vallam road and the parallel Vallam quarry road.
The bus stand is nestled between the two roads. As all types of vehicles, including cars and mini-trucks, use the thoroughfare, those passengers walking to board their bus as well as the bus drivers coming out of the stand, are put at inconvenience. Hence to restrict the movement of vehicles other than the buses inside the bus stand, the corporation commenced work on laying the peripheral road around two weeks ago.
"The total length of the road will be around 900 metres and it would be eight metres wide,” a corporation engineer said. A new road, however, will be laid only for 450 metres while the remaining stretch where a road is already available will be partitioned for separate movement of buses and the rest of the vehicular traffic. The entire stretch will have iron fencing, the engineer added.
The portion where the road is to be laid has been levelled currently. Welcoming the corporation move, D Mathivanan, state vice-president of the federation of TNSTC workers unions (AITUC), said, "At present the private vehicles, including college vans, cars and pick-up trucks, ply through the bus stand which is against rules. Several accidents are reported when the drivers leave the bus bays. College vans also park haphazardly to drop students inside the bus stand, creating risk of accidents.”
Meanwhile, corporation officials say the Rs 2.47-crore project will be completed by January 2026. Once the road is laid vehicles other than the buses will not enter the bus stand, they added. Other vehicles can use the peripheral road to pass through. The omni buses from the nearby bus stand will also pass only through the peripheral road and cannot come inside the new bus stand, the officials further said.