Bus shortage: Mayhem at Kilambakkam

Chennai: Yet another long weekend brought with it chaos at Kilambakkam bus terminus, short-supply of local and long-distance buses and bus fare spike by three to four times.Outbound travellers had to jostle for seats whenever a bus entered the Kilambakkam terminus since Thursday afternoon. Young and old, besides children, were screaming for assistance in the mayhem.Transport commissionerate had stated that 1,160 special buses were operated on mofussil routes on Thursday, including 400 hired private buses (Payanam buses), about 100 MTC buses, and 50 SETC buses, apart from the regular 2,092 services. However, passengers complained they were still inadequate compared to the demand.Manikandan K, a private firm employee from Kallakurichi, said passengers suffered due to announcement from the transport corporation that additional buses would be operated. "There were not many unreserved buses. And to destinations such as Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram, MTC buses were operated," he said. Impatient passengers had to run behind the arriving buses, not knowing if they would be operated on their route, he said. Some families decided to take a nap at the bus terminus, unable to find buses.Reaching the KCBT itself was a Himalayan task for many, as slow-moving traffic and lack of MTC buses to Kilambakkam added to the woes. It took three hours to reach Kilambakkam from Koyambedu, but only reserved buses were stationed in the KCBT, said another passenger. "MTC should increase connectivity to Kilambakkam at least on long holidays until KCBT gets metro rail connectivity. For suburban passengers, reaching KCBT is not manageable now," said Rajasekar, a passenger.Chengalpet district revenue officer Paul Rajkumar, who oversees KCBT operations, said passengers started thronging KCBT from Thursday afternoon as many private firm employees were leaving for their hometowns after the first work shift ended. "The buses we reserved for the evening were operated to manage the afternoon rush. The additional buses were operated as and when the crowd demanded buses for a specific route. Till 4am on Friday, 2.5 lakh passengers travelled from KCBT," he added. Buses to Kumbakonam, Trichy, Tiruvannamalai, and Villupuram were in high demand, he said.Meanwhile, a few omni bus operators started fleecing desperate passengers by tripling the ticket fares. From Chennai to Erode, a ticket that usually costs around 800 was sold for 2,800 online, even though the omnibus associations claim to have capped the price at 2,250.A Anbalagan, president of the All Omni Bus Owners Association, said 1,800 private buses were operated from Chennai to several destinations on Thursday. "Across the state, 4,000 buses made 6,600 trips transporting 2.52 lakh passengers. Some companies do violate the price cap, and the transport department should initiate action," he said. He also mentioned that the special squads of the department should check the fares at the origin station instead of stopping the bus midway at multiple points in the name of checking, delaying the travel further.

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