Still waiting for a bus stop at Ulloor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: People waiting for buses near shops and roadsides is a common sight at Ulloor. Though a prominent place in the city, lack of a bus bay at the junction is a proof of the apathy of the authorities towards common man’s woes. The authorities have been neglecting the demand to set up a bus bay at Ulloor for long. LKG students to elderly patients are now depending on the nearby shop premises and busy roadsides to wait for buses. The road maintenance and construction of bus bays are part of the City Road Improvement Project. However, the indefinite delay in the road works is giving much hardship to the people. The patients to Medical College have to wait on the roadsides under the blazing sun. Ulloor junction is also an important route that leads to Kazhakkoottam, Kollam, Medical College and Akkulam. People’s demand for bus bays at Ulloor junction is several years old. In 2004, a group of people submitted a request letter to the Corporation for constructing a bus bay at the junction. Though it got sanction, delay in the work of the drainage system and road-widening made the dream of the people for a permanent bus bay at Ulloor unfulfilled. Former councillor of Medical College ward Anil Kumar blamed delay on the part of Kerala Road Fund Board as the reason. Trenches dug along both sides of the road for the construction of  the drainage system is causing heavy traffic congestion and the dearth of permanent bus bays was posing a threat to the life of  those who wait bus at Ulloor junction. “The road from Ulloor to Kazhakkoottam is an important route where a large number of educational institutions and commercial establishments function. But, the absence of a bus bay is a shame for us. We are at the mercy of nearby shop owners. The hardship will become maximum during the rainy season,” says Prathibha Gopakumar, employee of Technopark.  “There is no security for the life of those who wait for buses on roadsides or nearby shop premises. Bus drivers sometimes stop far away from the bus stop. The officials cannot understand the hardship of the common people,’’ says Pooja Jayan, a native of Ulloor.