Bus shelters across Puducherry that serve no purpose

A majority of the bus stops in the city have no shelters. And the bus stops, that have shelters, are not being maintained properly, complain residents. Many shelters were removed during the widening of roads but were not restored as no alternative space was allotted, says official

The bus shelter located in front of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) is not in use now.

Though the bus shelter has a few steel chairs fixed to the ramp to accommodate patients visiting the hospital located on the arterial Puducherry-Tindivanam Road, it has been encroached by autorickshaws now.

The bus shelter near the Gingee Salai-Jawaharlal Nehru Street junction is no different. Though the bus shelter has seating arrangements it is not being maintained properly. The shelter has been virtually misused for dumping branches of a big tree that was cut recently and the shelter has become non-existent.

The Union Territory has over 4,000 buses plying on both inter-State and intra-State routes and commuters are dependent on them in the absence of a reliable public transport system. However, a majority of the bus stops in the city have no shelters. And the bus stops, which possessed shelters, are not being maintained properly, complain residents.

“The bus stop in front of Jipmer once used to be very crowded. But now buses do not halt there as the space has been encroached by autorickshaws and commuters have been pushed to the roads. Similarly, the bus stop at Indira Gandhi square fails to meet the heavy rush of students and officegoers in the mornings. Due to paucity of space, many are forced to stand on the roads,” said John Peter, a resident of Reddiyarpalayam.  

“The bus shelter at the Ariyankuppam junction is in such a poor condition that people seldom wait here for buses. The bus stop near the shelter remains busy from morning to evening. Buses stop only if they are waved down by waiting commuters and absence of a proper shelter has been adding to the woes of commuters,” says A. Aswhin, a college student.

Another problem confronting the commuters is the absence of proper information at the existing bus shelters. None of the bus shelters have any information about the arrival or routes of buses. As a result, drivers ignore them and stop buses at their will.