Public seeks more bus shelters

Public seeks more bus shelters
Vijay Times

EVEN as the Bangalore Metropolitan T ransport Corporation (BMTC) has been widely appreciated for increasing the number of buses, its failure to provide adequate number of bus shelters has come in for sharp criticism from the public.

At present, the residents of the City , which has over 200 BMTC bus stops, are finding the number of shelters inadequate as the population has increased. The BMTC, whose revenues have increased, has failed to meet the commuters demand for more number of bus shelters.

In addition to this, some bus shelters that have already been erected are, instead of serving as bus shelters, serving as advertisement hoardings. "They provide space enough for only eight to ten commuters," a citizen claimed.

"These shelters won’t save us from the rain nor the sun. Why have such shelters been erected," he asked.

Some of the tourist spots and major landmarks in the City lack bus shelters. Commuters have a tough time finding stops near the Vidhana Soudha, the High Court, the W est of Cord road, the Binny mill and the Maharani college road.

"Introduction of one ways in the City have resulted in most of the bus shelters being unused. These shelters should be removed and should be erected at places where there is necessity ," says Rajanna of Magadi road.

"Commuters are expected to run after buses as the vehicles don’t stop at the particular shelter . Our repeated pleas to the traffic police asking them to check this erratic behaviour of drivers have fallen on deaf ears," complains Janakiram of Malleswaram.

"Of the 2,000 bus shelters that were to be constructed, 455 are being constructed. As many as 375 have already been constructed. T enders have been floated to erect the rest," official sources said.

"The advertisement agencies hesitate to bid for the tender as they believe that there would be no substantial benefit in erecting shelters in some places, " Advertisement division officer Rajesh said.

"As of now , there are no plans to construct new bus shelters," said BCC Deputy Commissioner (Development) Krishne Gowda. Mayor Mumtaz Begum promised to hold discussions on the issue with the authorities concerned.