The renovated facility in Mogappair East suffers due to poor security arrangement
Four years after it was renovated at a cost of Rs 60 lakh, the bus terminus in Mogappair East is facing new problems. Miscreants seem to be taking over the premises after sunset and indulging in anti-social activities. Every day, sweepers at the terminus have to remove more than a dozen empty liquor bottles from the rear end of the facility.
Most of the seats at the bus bay are damaged and women commuters prefer to wait at the entrance of the terminus. “We wait under a tree at the entrance of the terminus as the bays are unclean and the seats damaged. Most of the buses also halt near the entrance,” says V. Ramani, a commuter from Mogappair.
Commuters say that the terminus does not have an adequate security arrangement including proper locking system. After the buses are parked at the night, the main gate of the terminus is not locked. Miscreants use the rear side of the terminus, they climb on the wall and switch off the lights that are located in the bus bays, at night. The switchboard for the lights on the bus bays should be shifted to the time office, which is located at the entrance of the terminus, as it will prevent miscreants from switching off the lights there, say commuters.
A police booth is also located at the entrance but commuters say they rarely spot any police personnel.
The terminus was opened with funds from the MLA’s Local Area Development fund (around ₹25 lakh) and the rest from the general funds of the MTC. The renovated terminus in J.J. Nagar has a compound wall, better illumination, water taps, rest rooms, administrative office for enquires, a separate room for MTC staff and sign boards that would indicate specific routes and timing of arrival and departure of buses.
The existing floor level of the terminus was also raised to around 1.5 feet high to prevent flooding during monsoon. Opened in 1990, the 1.5-acre terminus daily operates 21 buses to places such as Thiruvanmiyur, T. Nagar, Parry’s Corner and Anna Salai with more than 5,000 commuters using the facility every day.
“Steps will be taken to provide more security measures at the terminus,” said a MTC official.
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