Sixty-four-year-old K. Narasimhan, a resident of Ayanavaram, is waiting for his bus at the bus terminus-cum-depot on Anderson Road in Ayanavaram, standing.
A little distance away, a few students run towards an empty bus: They obviously did not know beforehand where their bus would halt.
At the rear-end of the terminus, a car is parked in an empty bus bay at the terminus.
There are snapshots of the terminus and they tell us what is wrong with it.
Over three decades ago, this bus terminus in Ayanavaram serves bus commuters from Kilpauk, Medavakkam Tank Road, Purasawalkam, Kellys, ICF and railway quarters along Perambur carriage works.
Every day, on an average, 480 bus trips are operated from the terminus to many other parts of the city, including Red Hills (114A), Besant Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur (23C) and Broadway (35). A small bus (S55) is also being operated from the terminus to Aminjikarai.
However, despite being a busy facility, it lacks certain essential facilities.
“The bus terminus does not have seats and digital boards about incoming and outgoing buses, and does not offer commuters water taps and clean toilets. Every time, we have to check with the time keeper on the arrival of buses,” says S. Vidya, a commuter from Kellys. Besides, there are no LED lights at the bus bays.
Making matters worse, the terminus seems to be open to unauthorised parking. An entire bus bay was recently occupied by private vehicles including a school bus and driving-school cars. Commuters say that during the monsoon, rainwater stagnated in most of the bus bays due to leaky asbestos roofs.
Besides, with the RTO for Chennai Central region located adjacent to the terminus, many new vehicles are often parked in front of the terminus blocking easy entry and exit of buses from the terminus.
The lack of a compound wall with a clear entrance to the terminus seems to encourage unauthorised entry and parking.
“Steps will be taken soon to improve facilities at the terminus,” says a MTC official.