Missing small buses big pain for Urapakkam

Speaking to DTNext, M Ramesh, a resident of Periyar Nagar, said, “S 5 bus used to come to our area which was really helpful for all of us, but it was suddenly withdrawn three months ago with no proper announcement and from that day we are suffering.”

The small bus facility was introduced in the year 2013 by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, to make the travel convenient for the people living in the suburbs and interior areas by providing them connectivity to the nearby railway stations and bus stops in the city. After continuous demands by the villagers, two small buses were launched in 2014 at Urapakkam – Keerapakkam route, which connects villages like Karanaipuduchery, Periyar Nagar, Vinayagapuram,Kaatur, Keerapakkam and Kumali.

“As the buses were stopped now the school students are made to force to walk through the forest area for about 12 kilometres to reach the school, and many of the working people who need to catch trains and buses are going through tough time as they can’t be present at the office on time,” said Sasikala Danasekar, Secretary of the village welfare association.

When contacted, the Managing director of MTC said, “We are working on the issue and the bus service will be started again.”