Omni terminus cries for attention

CHENNAI: With the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) turning a blind eye to the maintenance of the Chennai Contract Carriage Bus Terminus (CCCBT), popularly referred to as the omni Bus Terminal at Koyambedu, the facility lacks even the most basic of amenities, leave alone nominal facilities for passengers.Though CCCBT was inaugurated in 2003 to cater to the needs of private carriage operators ferrying thousands of passengers from Koyambedu to different parts of the state and even to neighbouring states, the CMDA has never attempted to improve any  of the amenities inside the heavily-used terminus, Natarajan, a regular commuter told City Express.Giving a classic example of CMDA’s negligence towards CCCBT, Natarajan said, “The 6.75 acre-facility meant for the passengers does not have proper drinking water supply for its users nor usable toilets.”“Since no toilet facilities are available for passengers, especially women, last week, an elderly lady was forced to urinate in the open (in the backyard of the terminus) and the fellow passengers felt very bad about the state of affairs of the terminus.”Giving first hand experience of the ruined terminus, a group of drivers of the private buses, who were forced to take their breaks on the damaged walkways till evening, showed the filthy condition of damaged bathrooms and toilets in the rearside of the facility.“There are no doors for the toilets and our cleaners have to guard us if we get in to attend nature’s call,” Kannan, one of the drivers told City Express. The ruined and poorly maintained CCCBT is the house of more than 500 drivers and cleaners.In the absence of such facilities, they defecate, urinate and even bathe in open spaces and the CMDA’s local authorities don’t bother to set things right at the terminus. According to one of the bus operators, CMDA collects more than three crore rupees per month as charges for different ‘services’ and also for maintaining the terminus for the omni bus operators, but not even a penny is utilised for the maintenance, in reality. Despite repeated attempts, CMDA officials responsible for the maintenance of the terminus, failed to respond.