Bus sheds lie in dilapidated condition
Panaji: A second inspection of the city KTC bus stand conducted after a gap of two and half years by the north district road safety council along with senior officials from various departments found that there is no improvement in the condition of the bus stand.
CCP commissioner Agnelo Fernandes, DySP Traffic Salim Sheikh, KTCL general manager SL Ghate, assistant divisional fire officer Ajit Kamat and senior officials from department of transport, health, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL), GSIDC, PWD, electricity, and representatives from consumer rights organisation GOACAN jointly conducted the inspection.
The team found no improvement in dilapidated condition of bus sheds and the drainages are found to be still choked, no provision of zebra crossing made for pedestrians, no demarcation of entry and exit points for buses, absence of barricades, indiscipline and negligence of bus drivers, absence of fire fighting and prevention system, encroachment over footpaths, unauthorised parking of abandoned vehicles and private vehicles at the bus stops.
This inspection was prompted by the February 2018 incident when a private bus driver had mindlessly drove on the wrong direction and crushed two passengers to death at the KTC bus stand.
The team was surprised to find that no seating arrangements were made yet at the bus stand for bus crew members, motorcycle pilots, and also for senior citizens, physically-challenged persons and women waiting to board buses.
The team decided to restrict entry of other vehicles inside the premises and install barricades on the entry and exit points, display no entry and no parking boards, make distinct marking of bus bays and monitor the sites by traffic police and RTO which would enhance that bus stop safety is up by over 50 per cent.
However, each department has been asked to submit its action plan by August 15 or September 27, which will be placed before the Supreme Court-appointed Road Safety Committee.
KTCL has expressed difficulty in maintaining the bus stand due to lack of funds and exhaustion of infrastructure. “It’s a 40-year-old bus stand and the shed was last repaired by PWD. During normal times, we receive daily 1.50 lakh footfalls and 2,400 bus departures take place between 6 am and 10 pm and every hour around 200 buses enter the bus stand. The infrastructure is exhausted. We can only plan for revamping of city bus stand with coordination of all departments,” said KTCL general manager SL Ghate.
The district road safety council has directed the authorities in the traffic and transport (enforcement) cells to take strict action against private vehicles and rent-a-bikes parked inside the bus stand leading to chaos and bunching of buses.
During the inspection, the team found people not using designated spaces allotted at bus stand for visitors’ parking and entering stands to drop commuters and parking vehicles near the platform. Also, a passage for safe walk of pedestrian was found converted into a cafeteria causing hardships to commuters particularly the elderly and people with disability to reach their designated buses.
The team also found poor implementation of pay-and-park system by KTCL as there are designated pay parking areas marked but has no attendant to collect fees. The council therefore directed the KTCL to furnish a plan showing the actual pay parking areas in the bus stands.