Sans care, bus shelters on road to decay

BHUBANESWAR: A dash of rain and commuters rush to the bus shelters for cover only to be greeted by stray cattle and dogs. There are hardly any chairs or benches and if any, they have been broken. This is the state of most bus shelters in the City. Located at strategic points, the 50 bus shelters here are dilapidated sans timely repair work and maintenance. There are no lights and commuters keep standing with chairs broken. These turn into safe haven for criminals at night. The shelters were built by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in public-private-partnership mode a few years back. The only two things, locals alleged that regularly changed in these shelters are the advertisements and display boards. “Though these bus shelters are not very old, yet they are dilapidated. Many of these sheds are damaged and nobody seems to care,” rued Ashok Pati waiting for a bus at Satya Nagar. Like Pati, hundreds of commuters use these bus stops daily. Even as little has been done to repair or renovate the existing damaged shelters, the BMC is already planning another 100 such shelters in the City. The measure is being taken in the wake of rising number of  commuters and work will start in the next fiscal, said Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.  “A survey of existing bus shelters has been carried out and repair work will be initiated soon,” Jena added.