In a move to help residents of Perumbakkam tenement reach their workplace in the city on time by starting the bus services early, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board will be allotting 80 houses to Metropolitan Transport Corporation drivers and conductors soon.

There are over 13,000 families living in the TNSCB tenement in Perumbakkam. Out of the population of around 50,000, most of them have been re-settled from Adyar, Saidapet, Chintadripet and Aminjikarai. There are a total of 34 bus services, including routes such as 119 G, 102, 23 C, 570 P, among others. They leave from the bus terminus inside Perumbakkam. However, for long, the complaint has been that the bus services don’t leave early in the day. “The residents have to leave their homes early to reach the workplace on time. But the bus services don’t start early as the driver and conductors have to come to Perumbakkam from the city,” said a TNSCB official.

Hence, the TNSCB has decided to provide 80 houses to the MTC so that they can rent it out to the drivers and conductors. “This way, they can start the services early and the residents can also leave for work early,” added the official.

Geetha, a resident, said that for the past three years they had been struggling without early bus services. “Hence, many spend Rs. 10 on a share auto rickshaw to reach the city,” she claimed.

Plea for minibuses

Meanwhile, residents said that they needed small bus services at Perumbakkam. “The premises are huge and from some tenements, we have to walk two kilometers to reach the bus terminus. ,” added Kavitha, another resident.