Authorities provide no help, residents build bus shelter on their own

HUBBALLI: Residents of

Panchakshari Nagar

, which falls under the jurisdiction of Navangar in Hubballi, have built a posh

bus shelter

fitted with CCTV after their appeal to the

Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation

(HDMC) and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) went in vain.

Like-minded people of the area formed an organization and raised funds from each house. They collected Rs 1.5 lakh with most of the contributors being retired government employees. The bus shelter stands out from the ones built by HDMC and NWKRTC as the walls have catchy slogans to create awareness on socials issues like environment, health and cleanliness. The CCTV inside the shelter is aimed at preventing illegal activities at the facility.

Senior pharmacist of Civil Hospital, Dharwad, Umesh Davangere, told TOI: “Our layout has been neglected by the authorities. Earlier, people would stand in the middle of the road, waiting for buses. When our request did not yield any result, we pooled in money and constructed the bus shelter.”

He said that there are slogans on the walls like “Nimma Nagarvannu Swachhvagidi”, “Gidamaragallu Belisi” and “Kasavannu Tottiyalli Chelliri” (Keep Your City Clean, Grow Trees, Throw Garbage into Dustbins). To discourage people from urinating at the shelter, there is a Kannada slogan which reads: “Treat it as your wall and do not urinate here”.

Resident and contractor Shivanand Gopai, said, “We have motivated others to join hands with us to build the shelter and received a good response. Some people contributed money, some contributed bricks, cement and blocks. With cooperation from others, we built the well-equipped bus shelter with CCTV without any financial help from the authorities.”

Chairman, NWKRTC, Sadananad Danganavar, appreciated the residents. “I will soon visit the shelter and compliment people on their effort,” said Danganavar.