Commuters running helter skelter to catch buses has become a common sight now at Perungalathur in south Chennai. The reason for this is due to the relocated Erikarai bus shelter near the flyover. The bus crew skip the bus stop making the passengers run in a disorderly manner to catch buses.
Truth is that the MTC bus drivers now do not stop at the designated bus stop that is located near the flyover in Perungalathur. It must be taken into account that the Erikarai bus stop situated between Tambaram and Perungalathur was supposed to be for the white board buses for all commuters. The residents belonging to Vel Nagar, Devanesa Nagar, Raja Nagar, Mullai Nagar, Sreenivasapuram etc have been using this bus stop. The school and college students residing in these places use the MTC buses for their travel.
It must be recalled that after the reopening of the flyover here the bus stop was shifted adjacent to the entrance of the Maduravoyal Bypass Road. This has led to all white board buses skipping the bus stop totally. As the MTC buses are not stopping at Erikarai now, many residents walk about one km to catch a bus from Perungalathur. There is no proper stopping point for the buses in Perungalathur and this is making the situation worse. As the MTC bus drivers stop the buses at their convenient points, the passengers would have to run to catch the buses.
As per some officials from the transport dept, there was some risk involved in stopping buses at Erikarai as it was present at the exit of the flyover at Perungalathur. They added that to avoid accidents the MTC bus drivers halt the buses after some distance.