Passengers, bus operators articulate necessity for shelter at congested boarding point along Avinashi Road in Coimbatore

Passengers and bus operators in Coimbatore await City Corporation's decision on constructing shelters for boarding omni buses.

From 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day, hundreds of passengers bound for Chennai and Bengaluru start emerging along a stretch of the Avinashi Road running parallel to the sub-road leading to the ELCOT IT Park.

The stretch of over 100 metres gets choc-a-bloc with traffic as a number of passengers get dropped at the location by own or hired vehicles to board the buses.

A number of omni buses in a lengthy queue, each taking at least five to 10 minutes, for onboarding passengers becomes a common sight as time advances into late night.

The question in the minds of both passengers is for how long they should continue to face the travail of boarding the buses without proper lighting or shelter along the stretch.

A regular passenger, Vetrivel, placed the onus on the omni bus operators to find a solution. The operators are, in turn, looking to the City Corporation for an outcome to their request for constructing shelters along the sides with sufficient space for the buses such that the Avinashi Highway is left with lesser disturbance.

The omni buses that presently have Tamil Nadu Hotel as the starting point onboards passengers at Lakshmi Mills and Peelamedu stops before proceeding to the stretch parallel to Tidel Park road.

The difficulty is much lesser for the omni buses to onboard passengers at the two stops en route.