Half-built Mallasandra bus-stand causing traffic jams
With no bus shelter in the area, commuters are forced to stand on the road side, which often leads to crowding and affects traffic flow.
Bengaluru: The construction of the Mallasandra bus stand in Dasarahalli constituency began more than five years ago, but it is nowhere near completion.
In fact for the past one year the work has come to an absolute standstill and BMTC has cited lack of funds as the reason.
With no bus shelter in the area, commuters are forced to stand on the road side, which often leads to crowding and affects traffic flow.
In fact, the eight-kilometre stretch from 8th mile to Chikkabanavara has no proper bus stand.
This area has many educational institution and hundreds of students and teachers commute daily on this route.
“The construction of Mallasandra bus stand is going on for many years. Occasionally I see workers at the site, but most of the time the work process is at a pause,” said Sharat Kumar, a local resident.
Puttaswamy (55), a commuter from the same constituency, said, “The absence of a proper bus stop causes problem each day for all of us. There is too much chaos on the road and that leads to further delays. Every morning there is a heavy traffic.”
In its reply to an RTI query last year the BMTC had stated that the construction was being carried out based on the availability of resources.
It was carried out in three different phases and around Rs 12 crore has been spent so far. The query also revealed that the first phase of the construction of the bus station is being completed at the cost of Rs 9.16 crore, and for the third phase amounting to Rs 13.69 crore tenders have been called for.
Surprisingly the document doesn’t provide any details about the second phase, raising doubts in the minds of people.
BMTC Chairman M. Nagaraju Yadav said, “Because of the financial crunch we are not able to finish the remaining construction work. We are trying to get the revenue on the plate. Once that is done, we will complete the construction soon.”
The stone laying ceremony for the construction of the Mallasandra bus stand in Dasarahalli was done by the former chief minister B.S Yeddyurappa in 2008. However, the work officially started only in 2012.
