Chennai
With every entry and exit of buses, the commuters at the Adambakkam terminus cum depot find themselves standing at a ‘dust bowl’ as the unpaved areas and lack of proper concrete flooring in the terminus result in accumulation of dust, significantly contributing to air pollution.
The Adambakkam depot was one among eight new depots established after 2014 to accommodate the increased MTC services. The depot was created in the space of the existing terminus. With a fleet strength of 55 buses and 51 scheduled services, no efforts were taken to improve the infrastructure of both the depot and terminus, even after its creation in February 2014.
According to the commuters, the surface area at the depot remains highly uneven and unpaved for several years due to the non-maintenance by the MTC. “I have been using the terminus for over 12 years. I don’t remember seeing the surface paved in the terminus. Now it has become much worse after the terminus was bifurcated to create a depot. With more buses entering and exiting the depot cum terminus, the condition of the surface has deteriorated,” M Jaishankar, Officers Colony, Adambakkam said.
Due to the combination of insufficient illumination and a pitted surface, commuters have fallen down while locating their route numbers. “We have complained to the drivers and conductors, and the authorities concerned at the terminus about the condition of surface area. But, no efforts have so far been taken to address the issue,” Pauline Esther, another commuter said. She also added that the terminus lacks cleanliness as the garbage is dumped all over.
A resident of NGO colony, K Raja said that the commuters find it difficult to know about the bus timings as there is no timekeeper office in the terminus. “We have to rely on the MTC crew to know which bus will leave and have to wait outside until the driver or conductor enters the bus,” he said, noting that there were very few chairs available for the passengers awaiting the bus to sit. He also demanded the MTC to operate new routes including to CMBT and the High Court.
“During rains, the area abutting the bus bays becomes unmotorable. We face a tough time driving and parking the vehicles,” said a crew of MTC bus. Though the crew members have a restroom and a toilet facility, the lack of availability of water makes the toilet unusable, a driver said adding that they were forced to use the public toilets in terminus which is unclean. “As many as 51 services are operated from the depot but there is no drinking water supply is provided to the crew members. In the sweltering heat, we have no other option but to buy water bottles,” he complained.
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