It’s bursting at the seams

Crowds throng the Chathram Bus Stand throughout the day but the bus stand is too small to cater to the burgeoning crowd.

Although schools and colleges have their own buses, most students prefer the government buses despite heavy crowd during peak hours. “I live in Sendhaneerpuram and travel to my college that is near the bus stand. The fee for the college buses are usually very expensive and if I take the college bus it will takes hours to reach where I live as it takes a long route dropping off students along the way. So though the bus stop is very crowded and so are the buses, many of us prefer to go by government buses. We have requested them to increase the fleet of buses but nobody seems to be listening,” said S. Varshini, a student at a private college.

Buses bound for Karur, Coimbatore, and Thuraiyur are operated from the western side of the bus stand while those for Cuddalore, Neyveli, Ariyalur, and Perambalur halt on its northern side adding to further congestion. “These buses stop on the roadsides. Passengers have no facilities there, no shelter or platform to sit, the buses stop anywhere on that road,” said M. Sekaran, president, Federation of Consumer and Service Organisations. Encroachments by vendors add to the problem. “A number of hawkers and pavement vendors encroach on the road, posing a nuisance to passengers alighting from or boarding buses,” he added.

Private long-distance buses stop near the Chathram bus stand at night, causing traffic snarls along Karur-Bypass Road. “Several private bus operators pick up passengers from here at night. The crowd is especially huge on weekends causing road-blocks and traffic congestions,” said a traffic cop on duty near the bus stand.

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