Lack of basic amenities at MTC bus terminals is worrying many now
Posted on: 20/Dec/2018 9:53:35 AM
In the Chennai city many people use MTC or Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses as their mode of transport is well known. Over 3000 buses are being operated by MTC from as many as 34 bus depots in Chennai city and from the suburbs of Chennai. It is now revealed that these MTC bus terminals do not have the basic amenities that are required for the commuters. Availability of drinking water, toilet facilities plus availability of proper waiting seats are a must for any bus terminal and these basic amenities are not present in many MTC bus terminals in Chennai. In addition to this the roofs of the bus terminals are in bad condition and leaky roofs often lead to inundation on rainy days.
According to a staff belonging to MTC, the promised renovation works of bus depots at places like Adyar, T. Nagar, Tambaram and Thiruvanmiyur etc were not carried out and MTC has failed to keep up its promise. For getting the drinking water, time keepers and crew have spent their own money. This was also confirmed by the staff.
Vice president of Tamil Nadu State Nethaji Transport Union, Mr. V. Ramamurthy, expressed his thoughts and spoke about how all the bus depots were in poor condition. He expressed his unhappiness regarding the MTC bus depot at Thiruninravur and said it was one of the worst bus terminals in the city of Chennai. This bus depot does not have any shelter and the presence of private vehicles is more in this bus terminal when compared to the MTC buses. An activist spoke about how last year revenue officials planned to build the depot and how survey was carried out by them. Then after surveying was completed no further work was carried out.
The shocking piece of information is the situation is similar to other major bus depots like Tambaram and T. Nagar. Buses could be seen leaning from side to side as the approach roads leading to the bus depots from the main roads is patchy. A staff belonging to the T. Nagar bus depot pointed out that that the waiting seats were damaged and the passengers were made to stand to catch their buses.
As per the staff belonging to the Transport Development Institute, it is very clear that cities like Bengaluru, Delhi etc maintain their bus depots in a proper manner to attract more passengers and to increase their revenue. He later explained the need for proper maintenance of bus depots in the Chennai city as huge number people travel by MTC buses. A regular MTC commuter at Avadi bus depot shared his feelings. He spoke about the lack of toilet facilities and absence of waiting seats at the bus depot in Avadi. Finally he wanted the officials to keep the bus depots neat and clean with necessary infrastructure. Managing director of MTC, Mr. Anbhu Abraham, pointed about the repair works taken up by MTC at regular time intervals and said works would be taken up at all the bus depots if needed.
