CHENNAI: Piles of construction debris and mountains of garbage —  this had been the condition of the Old Mint Bus Terminus after the CMRL finished the construction of the Washermenpet Metro Station. After nearly a year of neglect, the CMRL has restored the bus terminus to its former glory. Bus bays have been constructed in the terminus and the complex is expected to be handed over to MTC in a month, said CMRL officials.

The bus terminus, sporting this new look, will directly be linked to the Washermenpet Metro Station for the integration of both modes of transport. ‘‘The work has been finished. Construction of the waiting area for people, toilets and benches will be completed in the coming weeks,’’ officials said. Since a new flyover was constructed across Mint, up to Stanley Hospital, the bus bays had to be realigned. Officials said that this won’t affect the traffic flow.

The Old Bus Terminus was taken over by CMRL for the construction of the Metro station. However, after the station began functioning in 2019, the Old Bus Terminus was left in neglect. Following this, the terminus turned into a dump yard for daily waste and construction debris. People too sullied the terminus by defecating in it. On the other hand, the buses were parked 500 metres down the road in a temporary terminus on an open-ground. Though Mint is an integral bus terminus connecting north Chennai to other parts of the city, the temporary terminus did not house basic facilities, including toilets and drinking water for drivers and conductors. It also did not have compound walls and gates, resulting in many cows entering the terminus and scaring the passengers and MTC staff alike.

TNIE reported in 2019 about how the terminus did not have a bus shed, forcing buses to turn red-hot during summer and suffer from leaky roofs during winter. However, in November 2019, after a prolonged bureaucratic process, CMRL and MTC came to an understanding to fasten the restoration of the old terminus. CMRL officials said that the new terminus is set to be larger than the old one and would house more buses. Buses will be plying to busy routes such as 59 (Thiruverkadu), 56 (Ennore) 37 D (KK Nagar), 37G (Iyyappanthangal), and 592 (Periyapalayam) with more than 30,000 passengers using it every day.
The restoration work will be over in a month. The bus terminus facing the historic mint-clock tower is expected to open for public by mid-2020.

Leaky roofs
TNIE reported in 2019 about how the terminus did not have a bus shed, forcing buses to turn red-hot during summer and suffer from leaky roofs during winter. In 2019, CMRL and MTC came to an understanding to fasten the restoration of the old terminus.