Every day, at least 100 passengers living in Mugalivakkam and Ramapuram suffer due to the lack of proper bus service in the locality.
The Mugalivakkam residents who take 45B route and various bus routes from Ramapuram Arasamaram junction, and the residents of Kundrathur who take the bus routes 88C, 88K, 88D, 188, 188K complain that they hardly see these bus services during peak hours.
“Recently, the 45B bus did not turn up and many office goers had to suffer because of this,” says a resident of Mugalivakkam. “The 88 series of buses cover the routes between Kundrathur and Guindy via Bhai Kadai junction and Porur. We have three colleges, many schools, and an IT park on this route. So, when there is a problem with the bus service, the office goers and school/college students suffer,” says Murali, who takes this route every day.
“I study in the nearby engineering college. If I have special classes in the evening, it becomes difficult for me as the frequency of my bus is very less. And not just that, we are forced to travel on the footboard due to the crowd, and by the time I reach the college, I become tired,” says Krishna, a college student.
If this is the case for adults, then imagine the plight of the school students. “We have been taking this particular bus route to school for the last three years and not even once have we travelled leisurely. As the share autos charge triple the amount, we end up travelling on the footboard regularly and because of this minor accidents have even occurred. We hope the frequency of the bus is increased by the government,” says a group of students.
Route number 188 is the only service from Porur to Broadway via Manapakkam and Kolappakam. “We already live like abandoned people in this city and lack of bus service adds to this. The buses do not stick to particular timings and the rush in the buses is becoming impossible day by day. Travelling during the peak hours is a nightmare for us,” says Varadhan, a Manapakkam resident.
Apart from issues like overcrowded buses and less frequency in services, people face problems because of bad road conditions. Since the Kundrathur stretch lacks divider, motorists take the one way hindering traffic flow. Residents also complain that cops assigned to regulate the traffic here are not enough.