Residents of Medahalli have to walk around a kilometre more to board a bus, despite having a bus stand in the neighbourhood.
BMTC busses do not stop at the Medahalli bus stop which is situated off the national highway. Instead, they stop further away, on the highway resulting in commuters having to walk nearly a kilometre from the bus stop to catch them.
What is worse is that the place the buses stop does not have a bus shelter or a platform, but is on the main highway, making it dangerous for any person waiting for a bus.
BMTC drivers use the flyover instead of the service road, while passing by Medahalli. This causes risk and inconvenience especially for the elderly as they have to walk about a kilometre to board a bus. Ramanna, a resident of Medahalli said “I have arthritis and it becomesdifficult to walk the distance every time I need to catch a bus. Because of this, I have reduced using this route. I am now looking for an alternative route.”
Residents have complained to the BMTC but no action has been taken yet.
Tej Kumar,another resident of Medahalli who is a daily commuter on the route said, “Many residents of Medahalli including me have complained to the BMTC depot mangers many times. We have asked them why the bus drivers don’t stop at the station. But there have been no answers given yet and the situation has not improved. Usually when we complain, buses stop at the station for one to two days but after that it is as usual.”
There is no footpath on the highway, which leaves commuters with no option but to walk on the road. Ramanna added, “We have to walk on the road and also wait for the bus on the road. In my age one has to be very careful about fast moving vehicles. Every time I go to board a bus at night, I have to risk my life.”
The actual bus stop also needs improvement. The footpath and benches are broken and the steel structure has rusted to a point where there are big holes in it.
BBMP east zone chief engineer Mohan Krishna said that the bus stop comes under the authority of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), BBMP is not responsible for it. Regarding the footpath he said that since they have not received any complaint from the residents yet, therefore they are unable to take any action.
Nagendra, Deputy Chief Transport Officer at BMTC said that bus drivers are directed by the Depot Managers to use the service road but still the problem continues. He said, “The depot managers I contacted told me that they asked the drivers to stop at the Medahalli bus stop. They also comply for a few days, but after some time everything comes back to square one. Now since it has come to my notice, I will take a look into the complaints personally.”
M.N. Sreehari, Transport and Traffic Advisor to the Government of Karnataka said, “Many buses use the elevated roads on the national highway and avoid using the ground routes. They usually do not divert from the highway to board passengers. The bus stop should have been built on the highway itself, but for that one has to ask the NHAI. State government can only be held responsible for the footpath near the bus stop. BMTC drivers should be ordered to stop at the bus stop by some person in the higher echelons of power, else they won’t listen.”
