Outer ring of Chathiram Bus Stand chocks with vehicles due to haphazard parking of buses

Frequent traffic snarls near Chathiram Bus Stand due to haphazard parking of long distance buses, leading to congestion.

Haphazard parking and operation of long distance buses on the road near Chathiram Bus Stand in the city is leading to frequent traffic snarls.

A 50-metre-stretch of busy road adjacent to the overhead water tank near Chathiram Bus Stand is being used as an unofficial bus stand for long distance buses heading towards Perambalur, Ariyalur, Chidambaram, Virudhachalam, Cuddalore, Thottiam, Musiri and others.

The casual practice, which was followed by a few bus crew members about 15 years ago, has become permanent. In the initial days the bus crew members chose to halt buses on the roadside. They, thereafter, began to operate buses on the road. Now, nearly 65% of the road along the 50-metre-stretch is occupied by the bus crew members.

Three rows of buses, both private and State transport Corporation buses, are seen at any point of time between 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. At least 10 buses are parked at any time. All other activities relating to load and offload the passengers are also taking place in the area, thereby shrinking the road space.

As per the ground situation, only one four-wheel vehicle can ply. But the busy road is choked with a large number of buses, cars, auto rickshaws and two-wheelers that come from Karur Bypass to Chathiram Bus Stand, Mela Chinthamani, Srirangam, Thiruvanaikoil and others. It leads to severe congestion when they compete with one another to drive past. The indiscriminate parking of vehicles that carry guests to the hotels and restaurants situated opposite to the unannounced bus stand also adds woes to the traffic bottleneck in the area.

“The frequent traffic snarls expose the poor traffic management in the area. The road users cannot be put to hardship,” says N. Jamaluden, a civic activist of Thennur.

He said there were plans to shift all the long distance buses heading towards the northern direction to the Integrated Bus Terminus once it was thrown open to the public. Better traffic management should be in place in the outer ring of Chathiram Bus Stand area till that time.