Rain and flood ravaged Vadapalani bus stand gets facelift

Chennai

Sources said that after the north-east monsoon, some of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus depots and bus stands were damaged extensively. The government decided to inspect the main bus depots to undertake renovation work. Officials had taken up work at the Vadapalani bus depot in January under MP Local Area Development Scheme.

“Everyone one knows that the deluge in the last December milled roads and damaged roofs and other structures in the bus depots. So the MTC department surveyed all the damaged depots and submitted reports to the state transport department. Accordingly, the Vadapalani bus stand,  which was largely damaged by rains and floods was selected for improvement work,” said an MTC official.

The work which included construction of concrete floor for buses coming in and going out at the bus depot, basic amenities like advanced toilets and drinking water supply, installation of highmast lamp and advanced seats for waiting passengers was being taken up at a cost of Rs.75 lakhs.

The project has been welcomed by the bus commuters. “It is a fact that after the rains, a number of bus depots don’t have the basic  infrastructure, causing great inconvenience to passengers. Since the number of passengers waiting is on the rise, the authorities should ensure the depots are passenger-friendly,” said S. Raja, a regular commuter using the Vadapalani depot.

When DTNext contacted, M. Balakrishnaswamy, Managing Director, MTC, said they would try to complete the work as early as possible. “We are studying all other depots too and will carry out renovation work wherever necessary after elections,” he assured.