COIMBATORE: In view of the surge of travellers during the Pongal festival, the TNSTC and the police have been urged to ensure proper crowd management at bus stands in Coimbatore.
Passengers, particularly women, children, and senior citizens, struggle to board special festival buses at the bus stands in Coimbatore city.
P Arulmozhi, a student of Bharathiar University, told TNIE that she travels to her native place in Salem during weekends and festival times from the Gandhipuram Central Bus Stand.
The crowd is larger during a festival period when compared to weekends, she noted.
"As people travel to their hometowns with luggage, passengers, including women, often have to run behind buses as they enter the bus stands to take up seats. When the buses stop at the platforms, some passengers attempt to board without allowing others to alight. Unnecessary quarrels thus break out among passengers," she said, adding such practices pose inconvenience and danger.
"Besides, males often board the buses through the women's footboards at the front, without allowing female passengers to enter. They also occupy the women's seats in the front. As a result, women who board the bus last are forced to travel standing for more than five hours amid heavy crowding. This is a serious issue," Arulmozhi said.
K Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, told TNIE that due to poor crowd management at bus stands, women, women with children, and senior citizens are unable to board buses during heavy rush hours.
He urged the TNSTC to announce the timings of special buses by displaying notice boards and to set up help desks at the bus stands to assist passengers.
"When the crowd is large, a queue system or token system should be implemented to allow passengers to board buses without difficulties. Moreover, the TNSTC staff should ensure that women have reserved seats on mofussil buses. Coordination between the TNSTC and the police department is essential so that all passengers can travel to their native places without any trouble," he suggested.
The TNSTC must implement proper crowd management at the bus stands to avoid inconvenience to passengers at least this time, he added.
A top official of TNSTC, Coimbatore, told TNIE that large crowds are usually seen only during Diwali and that there would not be much crowd during other festival periods.