The Incredible ‘Shifting & Shrinking’ Bus Shelter near St Agnes College?

The Incredible ‘Shifting & Shrinking’ Bus Shelter near St Agnes College?

Mangaluru: This report is for the kind attention of Mangaluru City Corporation Mayor Kavita Sanil and other concerned authorities, to look into this matter, as to still why a new Bus Shelter has been not constructed near St Agnes College, even after years after the original bus shelter was demolished to make way for the new entrance gate/college sign wall . Recently a small bus shelter was constructed ( even my dogs kennel is bigger than this bus shelter) at a very odd place, which was NOT utilized by the commuters as buses were still stopping in front of the college as always- and also that an auto-rickshaw stand was completely blocking this new bus shelter. Team Mangalorean had published a report on 12 August named “We Need A Better Bus Shelter at Better Spot Near St Agnes College (Ref: http://www.mangalorean.com/need-a-better-bus-shelter-at-better-spot-near-st-agnes-college/).

Original Bus Shelter Before it was Demolished….

Bus Shelter Removed to make Way for the College New Gate

A small Bus Shelter was built in an odd place where no commuters used it….

After complaints and website report the Bus Shelter was removed….

…Seems like a New Bus Shelter is shifted to this spot

A nice bus shelter did exist for many years, which was once well cleaned and painted neat (see pic) by the volunteers of Ramakrishna Mission ‘Swachh Bharath Campaign’- and few weeks later it was completely demolished when the college construction work was going on. Even though a nice gate was constructed and finished long ago, but no one has bothered to reconstruct a bus shelter of the same standard, where even now commuters and the students have been facing lots of inconveniences/hardships waiting for the buses in hot sun and during monsoon season in the pouring heavy rains. One would ask why would anyone built a bus shelter at a spot where buses don’t stop? Why would anyone built a bus shelter right in front of an auto-rickshaw stand? Why would anyone built such a small bus shelter when so many students of St Agnes College and general public will have to use it and fit in? Why is this bus shelter built without seating facility?

Why is this new bus shelter very generic while comparing to the spacious and nice bus shelter opposite on the other side of St Agnes College gate? – and these were the questions mentioned in our last report- and probably someone from MCC-could be Mayor or other MCC officials who saw our report thought it was foolish on their part to have such a tiny bus shelter at an odd place had finally decided to remove it- and have shifted the poles near to the College gate-looks like they are planning to have the same size bus shelter at this spot. But why built a smaller bus shelter, when the original bus shelter was quite spacious and had a seating arrangement. If some structure is demolished for a purpose, the same kind of structure should have been replaced- but in this case, it is just the opposite?

This story is like demolishing a ‘nice concrete house’ to make way for a new project, and once the project is done, then replacing the original demolished concrete house with a ’tiled roof house”? Similarly is the case here, a nice spacious bus shelter with seating facility was demolished to make way for a college project, and now for names sake and satisfy or probably fool the public, an inferior smaller with no proper facilities bus shelter is in the process of construction.Bah humbug! Poor planning by the MCC or anyone who behind this initiative- not a “Smart Planning” for a “Smart City”? Simply waste of money on such kind of projects which don’t benefit the citizens. Citizens should raise their voice before this new small bus shelter comes up. MCC Civic group, along with Aam Admi Party members will be staging a protest in this respect very soon.

When there exists a full-fledged bus shelter right across the road from the College, why then build a useless small bus shelter near the college. Wouldn’t be wise to have a bus shelter of the similar kind that exists on other side. Added to their credit with this new bus shelter which would be useless, an overenthusiastic MCC and other organizations/associations in the past have gone ahead with random construction of bus shelters, leaving the commuters more confused at some places and have completely ignored certain places. Take this classic example of lack of planning by these authorities.

There is absolutely no planning or policy when it comes to the number of bus shelters to be built at a particular point as some important bus stops in the city, resulting in the bus drivers stopping according to their whims and fancies. In fact, there are no shelters at all in most of the bus stops in the newly added wards. There cannot be a worse hardship, a commuter can face while waiting for a bus for a long time. I have noticed, It’s very confusing for the people, especially visitors who wait for the bus where there are more bus shelters. They do not know where the bus stops. In such cases, they might also miss the bus and not reach their work place or destination in time.

In conclusion, Team Mangalorean brings it to the notice of MCC Mayor and other MCC Officials that having this new small bus shelter near St Agnes College-Bendore will definitely be useless with so many commuters, including students that wait for their respective buses at this spot. When commuters don’t use such kind of bus shelters with no proper facilities, chances are that it will be used for illegal activities, also four-legged animals like stray dogs and cows will use it for their shelter. Better late than never-before this new bus shelter comes up, the authorities should think twice whether it would serve the purpose- and also why construct a small bus shelter when the original was of bigger size. AND ALSO WHO IS PAYING FOR THIS PROJECT -IT BETTER NOT BE THE TAX-PAYERS? Oh well- let’s wait and see, what action will the MCC take for the convenience of the commuters relying on public transport?

Also Read Related Article:

Need a ‘Better Bus Shelter’ at ‘Better Spot’ Near St Agnes College