Shantinagar’s world-class bus terminal hosts everything but buses

Shantinagar’s world-class bus terminal hosts everything but buses
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The Shantinagar Bus terminal represents a colossal waste of public money. The users of this facility, opened some six months ago, are few and far between.

The BMTC built the massive bus stand overestimating the number of users. But few people are spotted during the daytime, and most fear to use it in the evening hours.

“Our company denied us our ex-gratia for three years and said the money would be used to build the new bus facility. They got about Rs 14 crore from 18,000 employees. Now it seems the whole thing has gone up in smoke,” commented an official with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

The BMTC spent Rs. 23.5 crore to create this imposing structure. It has 30 platforms and can accommodate an equal number of buses at any given time. The bus stand also has a car and two-wheeler parking space capable of accommodating 200 vehicles each.

According to the engineers, of the total built up area of 1.5 lakh sq ft, one-third comprises the bus station and the other two-thirds the parking lots.

It is compulsory for BMTC buses plying on the route to visit the terminal, and it is quite convenient for buses coming from Shivajinagar sector to pick up commuters but not for those coming from South Bangalore areas such as Jayanagar and Basavanagudi. These buses take commuters an extra mile or two through the narrow lanes of Wilson Garden, just to fulfil the requirement of visiting the bus stand, where they seldom find passengers. ‘‘It is a waste of time during peak hours,’’ said a regular bus user.

Drivers, meanwhile, have their own tale of woe. They say it is a daily circus for them to manoeuvre through the Wilson Garden by-lanes, one of which has a place of worship with large crowds on one particular weekday. The vehicles too are parked on these roads, and often BMTC drivers have to get down from buses to get the vehicles removed.

While enthusiastic boys take over the sprawling bus stand to play cricket during the day, its seclusion makes it a perfect location for anti-social elements to take shelter at nights.

The BMTC had planned to raise revenues by renting out the shops and facilities built there. But the response from businessmen has been disappointing.

Mini buses dumped

The BMTC introduced Swaraj Mazda mini-buses two years ago to beef up its schedules. These were bought at a cost of about Rs. 65 crore and most of them have been withdrawn from use.

According to BMTC sources, these mini buses have been dumped and no one has been held to account.

The BMTC facility for south-bound buses has:

*30 platforms

*A Park and rides

*1 lakh Sft parking space

*Operates 1000 trips per day

*A Pedestrian subway

*Cost: Rs 23.5 Crore