Hyderabad: The bus stop in West Marredpally, located between Parade Grounds and Sweekaar Road, is not in use now. It used to be a very convenient spot for many people coming from the colonies and once it was a crowded bus stop with four bus shelters located beside each other and a broad road to accommodate buses. On the other hand, the luxurious bus stop built by the government are being used by auto-rickshaws more than buses.
Mr N. Ramanathan, Secretary, Marredpally Welfare Association, said, “Once it used to be a crowded bus stop but now the buses do not halt there as the stop was removed from there and relocated. Some of the buses stop near Sangeeth. Residents have to walk all the way from their homes till Sangeeth, which is nearly a kilometre away from the current bus stop.”
When contacted, Mr K Sreenivasa Reddy, Superintendent, City Traffic, Jubilee Bus Stand, said “There is a huge traffic problem at that location as there are more than 1500 buses going towards Shamirpet, Hakimpet, Suchitra Complex, ECIL, Darga and other parts on the outskirts of the city in addition to the regular flow of auto-rickshaws, cars and two-wheelers at Patny Circle near Harihara Kala Bhavan. It is the busiest junction.”
Mr Reddy added that, in the peak hours, more than two traffic controllers would be deployed to regulate the traffic and instructions would be given to the drivers through the depot heads to use all the four bus stops.
There is another kind of problem that is created by the misuse of space at bus bays. Grade 1 air conditioned bus stops which were constructed in the city in order to ensure that commuters wait comfortably, are also not an exception to auto drivers encroaching available space. The area outside those bus stops is occupied by autos, causing a lot of inconvenience to both the public and public transport. People have taken to social media to express their grievances.
