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Chennai: For 20-year-old R Vaishnavi, getting to college is a daily struggle. More than 5,000 commuters are forced to depend largely on suburban trains, two-wheelers and other private modes of transport. Though the locality has a bus terminus, only four routes are operational — 40-A and 40-H to Anna Square, F-70 to Guindy Industrial Estate and 54-C to Poonamallee. Those travelling towards Avadi have to walk at least 1 km to reach the nearest bus stop. He added that at least seven services originated from the depot before Covid-19, including direct buses to Tambaram, Broadway and Adyar.
“Last year, we raised a request with MTC officials seeking restoration of the bus services, but no action has been taken yet,” said A Roy Rozario, founder and general secretary of People’s Voice Pattabiram. T Sadagopan, president of Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Centre, said CTH Road lacks proper bus shelters and digital boards displaying bus numbers and timings. There were earlier buses connecting Pattabiram with Porur, Velachery and Guindy, but these services have now been terminated,” he said.
The second-year BSc Physics student at a private college in Morai travels nearly 40km from Pattabiram, but has no direct bus to college. She depends on share-autos or her father for the daily commute, adding to travel time and costs. Vaishnavi is among thousands who face limited bus connectivity in Pattabiram. The terminus remains largely underutilised, with many people boarding buses near Pattabiram police station. “The road gets heavily congested during peak hours, particularly near the new bus terminus at JAK City.
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S Rajan, Avadi bus depot manager, said reintroducing the terminated services requires approval from MTC planning department. “The current buses are delayed because of the traffic spike on CTH Road; a request has been sent to the officials to increase the bus services from Pattabiram depot; necessary action will be taken at the earliest,” he said. Download the TOI App.