Bus shelters waiting for MC's attention

Though the City Bus Service is on halt for the past two months, several bus shelters are lying in a pitiable condition and the municipal corporation (MC) has failed to repair them.

People at the bus shelter of Jalandhar Bypass face inconvenience during rains or scorching heat as the roof has not been repaired for more than a year, as per the claims of some daily passengers.

Similarly, the condition of other bus shelters, including those at Salem Tabri, Cycle Market, Gill Road, Miller Ganj and others, is almost the same. However, only a few people visit the bus shelters these days as the city buses are not plying, though some private buses halt there.

“The Jalandhar Bypass bus shelter is the busiest as many long-route buses halt here. The shelter's roof has not been repaired since long. Passengers are not only forced to stand in scorching heat but also they do not get any relief during rain,” said a conductor of a private bus.
“The city buses used to halt at Miller Ganj bus shelter earlier, but now students wait for autos here. The roof of this bus shelter is also missing for the past several months,” said Sukhpal Singh, a resident of Miller Ganj.

Earlier, the municipal corporation had handed over these bus shelters to a private firm which was looking after it. Though advertisements are displayed at several bus shelters, the broken roofs have not been repaired. Besides, there are some old bus shelters too which are crying for attention and also do not have any seating for passengers.

An MC official said, “A meeting was conducted recently where it was discussed to renovate all bus shelters. Around 80 bus shelters have been identified across the city.”

Secretary, local bodies department, Ashok Gupta on Thursday assured that the bus shelters would be made in all cities of the state by 2017.

MC's additional commissioner Rishipal Singh was not available for comment.