Not Smart! Having a New Bus Shelter when No Buses Stop- Also Illegal Parked Vehicles Block Access
Mangaluru: When there is no Bus Shelter, Citizens raise their voice and complaint that they need a Bus Shelter at the earliest. And once a new Bus Stand is constructed, you’ll notice that hardly anyone uses it! Commuters will be seen still standing at the earlier location without a bus shelter- and here is an example, of a newly constructed Bus Shelter in front of Apple Mart- a grocery store near City Hospital, Kadri Road-Mangaluru. As part of their Silver Jubilee Project it was indeed nice of Lions Club-Bendorewell members to construct this bus shelter in association with Mangaluru City Corporation.
Illegal Parked Vehicles Blocking Access to Bus Shelter
But the sad part is that only a few buses stop in front of this newly constructed bus stand, while other still make their stop at the earlier place, right across from City Hospital. And also that auto-rickshaws and vehicles are illegally parked near to the new bus stand, it has been hard for those buses who want to make a stop there. For couple of days a cop was stationed near the new bus shelter to keep an eye on illegal parking there, and also to check on buses who stop away from the new bus shelter. Early in the morning, you can see auto-rickshaws parked there, even though they have been advised not to- similarly with the bus drivers who have been told not to stop at the earlier place- but they still ignore the orders.
No Commuters, just beggars making use of the Bus Shelter
When Team Mangalorean asked a auto-rickshaw driver why is he still parking when he is obstructing the path of the buses trying to stop at the new bus stand, for which he replied, “Everyone has an eye on us about our parking here, but no one is taking action on the nearby owners of the apartment, who park their cars- since they had converted their car parking basement into two businesses ( see pics) . I guess that’s okay with MCC and traffic police. That is illegal to convert a car parking space into a business area”. We could believe what this auto-man is saying, because such kind of things are happening elsewhere in the apartment or commercial complexes.
However, if you go around the City, you’ll notice that City ‘Bus Shelters’ are turning out to Be ‘Homeless Shelters’ for beggars/homeless and ‘Dog Kennels’ for stray dogs? Have you noticed that how many commuters really use the bus shelters-the one reason would be that buses don’t stop in front of the bus shelters/bus stops, instead stop wherever the bus drivers want according to their whims and fancies.But looking at the present scenario, it seems like the transport authority/public transport association and Mangaluru City Corporation have a mission…’It’s either more or less, but never adequate.’ So, when people who commute daily by city or service buses complain of the hazards and hassles involved in boarding a bus, both the authorities seem to be aggravating the commuter’s problem.
Buses still stop at the earlier Bus Stop
And about this new Lions Club of Bendore-well bus shelter gift to the commuters, is now been used by beggars either to sit and have their lunch/dinner or use it as a shelter at night ( see pics). Sometimes even our four-legged stray dogs make their evening shelter too. And while many of the Bus stands across the City are in a shambles, and in many places, there are no bus shelters at all, and at some spots there are more than one bus shelter- and there are other spots where makeshift stops have added to the misery of the travelling public- but still no one cares about it.
An over-enthusiastic MCC and other organizations/associations 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. Taking a ride across the city and little further in the outskirts of the city, you’ll notice that there are two or three bus-shelters with a scanty population using it for travelling towards their required destinations, and in other places where many commuters really need a bus shelter, there is none. Thousands of commuters have to wait along the bus stops or most of the times on the road itself. This gets worse when it rains.
Auto-rickshaw are also seen parked near the new Bus Shelter
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 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. 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. Chances are that when the people are waiting for the bus in a bus shelter, the bus might stop ahead in the next shelter. Also, if the same route bus numbers are plying at a particular time, the buses won’t even stop, unless there are commuters alighting in that destination. There is no proper display of route numbers on the bus shelters either. Seems like there is a lot of disarray in the construction of more than one shelter at a particular stop between the planners.
Resident owners parked their car outside…..
……. While their car garages are rent out for business
Now regarding the Bus Shelter near to City Hospital-Kadri Road, which is constructed and looks new and clean, it would be nice if the commuters appreciate the efforts put in by the Lions Club of Bendore-well members in providing them this bus stand, that they should start making use of it. Yours Truly speaking to Ln Nagesh Kumar – the Founder president of Lions Club-Bendorewell, and also the Lions District coordinator suggested that a few of their Lion members volunteer for few hours and bring an awareness among the bus drivers and commuters about this new bus shelter, so that the drivers stop at the new place, and commuters also wait for the buses at the new bus stand. Team Mangalorean also suggested that it would help if a NO Parking Sign is installed near the new Bus Stand. And if no efforts are made, I think the good work done by the Lions will be simply a waste of money and their generous service to the community.
Let’s hope for the best from the Lions Club members, MCC officials and Traffic Police in motivating the bus drivers and the commuters in using the new Bus Shelter. If not it will be “Absolutely not a “Smart” plan when the City is gearing up to be a “Smart City?”.