Commuters wilt after bus stops go

CHENNAI: Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) removed bus shelters along the city's most important roads - Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road and 100 Feet Road - two years ago to make way for the transit system, but it failed to replace them at several points. The few re-installed were of such poor quality that they are falling apart.
This has not just inconvenienced waiting passengers, who now have to stand in the sun, but also made it risky for them.With MTC drivers halting buses in the middle of the road and giving them little time to board, the passengers are forced to stand on the road as vehicles speed past.
"It is scary. The traffic is heavy and many vehicles come close to us as they zip by," said S Srimathi, a Class 6 student who takes a bus from near the Bharath Insurance building on Anna Salai. She travels from Tambaram to study in Christ Church School on Anna Salai.
Some passengers make do by standing under a tree nearby or in shelters meant for traffic policemen.
Most of the bus stops that CMRL replaced - like the shelter near Melody Cinema Hall on Woods Road in Royapettah - are now dilapidated and do not serve any purpose. With the summer sun bearing down on them, passengers visibly wilt as they wait for a bus.
On General Patters Road, not far from Melody theatre, is what is supposed to be a bus shelter. It consists of four iron poles and an asbestos roof. One of the poles is bent and can give way any time.
"Metro rail and MTC should have constructed proper bus stops before making traffic diversions," said K Kamaraj, a professional who travels to work by bus. "It has been two years, but there has been no improvement in the situation."
Officials of CMRL say they have no option but to put up temporary shelters.
"There's no point in constructing full-fledged bus stops as they will have to be moved again. When work finishes on one side of the road, we will have to shift the bus stop," a CMRL official said.
But the company is planning to give bus passengers some respite. "We are making a list of bus stops that have to be rebuilt and relocated. We will ask the city corporation for approval," the official said.