Bus Station Watch 5: Banashankari

One-way confuses more than it clears
Deccan Herald

About 3 ft in height, a young ‘Baba’ strolls around with his tray of home-made coconut toffees. Stray cattle and dogs too go about their business. On a seating slab in the semi-circular, roofed platform, an old man takes a nap. A few yards away, the traffic inspector jots down the arrival and departure of buses and simultaneously attends to commuters’ queries.

It is obvious that all of them are oblivious of one another. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s bus stand at Banashankari, is a sure free-for-all.

It is estimated that nearly a lakh people are served by this bus stop on a daily basis. A monthly bus-pass counter is also located within the premises. It is learnt that between the month-end beginning 28th and 4th of the following month, lakhs of commuters avail themselves passes from the Banashankari bus stop counter.
Though the bus stop area is well spaced out, the roofed area is negligible. Rain or shine - both the daily passengers and the monthly pass seekers are largely forced to stand under the open sky.

The cleanliness and the toilet facility are maintained on contract. The platform and bus bay are anything but clean.

The lone public toilet is not any better. Interestingly, in a bus stop so centrally located and catering to so many daily commuters, there is no eatery. BMTC staff, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that both they and passengers are in need of proper toilet and canteen facilities.

The system of one-ways introduced for better traffic management has only confounded the matter for buses coming from the direction of Jayanagar and Madivala: they cannot enter the bus bay due to the lack of a facilitating turn. In the event, they by-pass the bus station and merely pick up travellers, if any, waiting on the other side of the road. Daily commuters have by now learnt to manage thus, but the others are caught unawares. Buses entering into the bay are also hindered by the haphazardly parked autorickshaws at the entrance and exit points.

By 9.30 pm, most of the bus bay area is occupied by night halt buses.
Night-time passengers and the buses plying by at that hour are therefore forced to park themselves at un-demarcated stops along the adjacent main road itself. The bus stop is located a few steps from the famous Banashankari temple. Rows of vendors - flowers, fruits, vegetables and knick-knacks - surround the adjoining roads leading to the bus stop.

On any given day, the population around here cannot be described as anything less than teeming. About 316 schedules operate from Banashankari bus stop daily; plying in and out are also another 200 n-route buses. The latter mostly originate from Kathriguppe, Somanahalli and Kallaghatura.

Direct buses are few towards Yelahanka, Bannerghatta, and Attibele. Commuters towards areas like Sarjapur, Chamarajpet, RPC Layout, and Byarasandra meanwhile called for an increase in the number of buses.

An official stationed at the station acknowledged that a large number of people employed at NIMHANS and Sanjay Gandhi Hospital and students from some professional colleges in Somanahalli are short of buses during the morning peak hours.

COMMUTER CALLING

Akbar (Banashankari resident):
There are enough facilities in this bus stand but where is the maintenance? The bus stand has to be maintained by the authorities otherwise what is the use?

Priya (engineering student of a college in Somanahall)i:
Sometimes the buses do not enter the bay area those of us waiting here are left in the lurch. Somanahalli is about 25 km from here. The travel itself takes time and due to lack of enough number of buses, we have to waste time waiting around.

Nagakumar from Mysore:
A proper queue-system could help in regulating the crowd and make it convenient for senior citizens. Facilities at KSRTC bus stops are better any day than these.

Prashanth(software professional): Route schedules are not well displayed and they are hardly decipherable. My friend and I have been waiting here for more than an hour, there is no bus in sight!

BMTC RESPONSE
Nagaraja Rao, Assistant Traffic Manager

* Space is a constraint for us at BSK. We are operating from our depot area.
* The one-way was meant to ease congestion. The problems that it has led to has been brought to the notice of the traffic police.
* A canteen catering to all - the staff at the depot, the staff at the bus stop and the commuters is being planned