At the the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus shelter on Jawaharlal Nehru Main Road, near the Vadapalani junction, motorcycles are parked. Besides, a vendor sells knick-knacks at the facility.
Around 100 metres from the the bus shelter, MTC commuters wait in the open to board buses.
The bus shelter, meant for commuters boarding buses proceeding towards Ashok Nagar, had been installed by Greater Chennai Corporation at a cost of Rs 5 lakh last year.
The bus shelter became redundant since May 2017, when MTC buses began to use the Vadapalani flyover. It may be noted that the Vadapalani flyover was opened to traffic in November 2016, but MTC bus drivers skipped the flyover so that they could halt their vehicles under the flyover.
However, after a report in The Hindu Downtown about MTC buses not using the flyover, MTC bus drivers were directed to take the facility.
Subsequently, the MTC shifted the stopover further down the road near the ramp of the flyover, but did not bother to remove and reinstall the bus shelter at the new location.
“During the recent rains, we had no place for shelter,” says K. Vasanth, a resident of Vadapalani.
Commuters also want to relocate the existing stopover to a less congested spot along the stretch as the present location, which is near ramp of the flyover, hinders the flow of vehicular traffic from the flyover.
According to officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation and MTC, proprietors of commercial establishments object to the relocation of the stopover as halting of buses in front of their shops can affect their business.
The officials cite this as a reason for the delay in installation of a shelter at the new stopover.