THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The unscientific bus terminal at Thampanoor is raising serious safety concerns for commuters and pedestrians even as demand rises for demolition of extended alighting and boarding platforms at the terminal which are being cited as the prime reason for accidents happening.
The apprehension is being raised in the wake of the recent accident where a 28-year-old woman was crushed to death.
According to drivers and KSRTC employees, lack of space inside the terminal was putting the drivers in trouble and the alighting and boarding ramp were forcing drivers to reverse their vehicles putting the life of pedestrians at stake.
Thampanoor councillor R. Harikumar said that the terminal was not user-friendly. “They should reduce the length of the platforms to make way for buses. There is absolutely no space for buses and the authorities have not given priority for bus bays. The huge commercial structure has taken away the entire space. The stretch from Over Bridge to Thampanoor is facing congestion after the opening of the bus terminal,” said Mr Harikumar. He said that the KSRTC should appoint wardens to guide pedestrians.
“The terminal is unguarded and commuters are straying around inside the terminal which should be avoided at any cost. There should be pedestrian paths,” he added.
A top official of KSRTC said that more space should be added to the existing terminal to ensure safe driving. “There is no doubt that the conductor and driver are responsible for the accidents. While taking reverse the conductor should guide the driver. The accident (where the 28-year-old woman was killed) was unfortunate. The terminal is very congested – earlier, we were able to park over 100 buses and now hardly 38 to 40 buses can enter at a time,” said the official.
