JOIN USLeft to sit on the rods!
With a large portion of the population travelling by the BMTC buses everyday, one would expect state-of-the-art bus stops in the City.
However in reality, the stops are a far cry from this. Commuters are used to waiting for the buses at the so-called stops which don’t even have proper benches for them to sit on. It’s a tiring process and the ever-increasing temperature of Bangalore only add to the woes of the citizens. Metrolife speaks to a few commuters and authorities about why this problem persists.
According to Benita, a student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce, no seats at stops means people standing all over the place. “It’s quite an obstacle actually,” she notes. “Some of the stops have rods in the name of benches. How can people sit on these rods? With buses being a major mode of transport in the City, how can the authorities not construct proper seats at the stops?” she asks.
Dr Vijay M, an orthopaedic surgeon who has a clinic in Jayanagar, informs that standing for a long time could be harmful to one’s health. “The sun could cause dehydration and standing in general for long hours could lead to varicose veins,” he notes. As an ordinary citizen of society, he has his own worries too.
“With no seats or clear demarcations for bus stops, there are chances of people not knowing where to stand. They could end up standing closer to the road instead and this could be dangerous,” he adds.
Deepti, another frequent traveller, has seen people trip and fall thanks to the rods at the bus stops.
“There are fences in front of some of the stops. At one stop, the authorities had cut the fence and a part of the rod was jutting out. I saw people stepping on them by mistake and trip,” she says. She travels a long distance from Murugeshpalya to New BEL Road and stands for a long time at the Murugeshpalya Bus Stop.
“The only option for people is to sit at the juice shops nearby but a girl can’t even do that,” she complains.
Though the BMTC authorities have constructed benches at a few stops on the outskirts of the City, it’s more in the hands of the BBMP. Says Anjum Parwez, the managing director of the BMTC, “We have constructed a few bus stops with seats on the outskirts of the City like Doddaballapur. But we aren’t permitted to construct these within the City. Only the BBMP can,” he reasons.
M Lakshminarayan, commissioner of BBMP, is in complete favour of seats being introduced at every bus stop in the City. “There are many courtesy benches in a number of places across the City.
And I’d be very happy if these were constructed at the bus stops too. However, we had a discussion at the BBMP council regarding the same. The idea is yet to get an approval,” he informs.