Citizen Connect: Ayanavaram bus terminus turning into parking lot for private vehicles, commuters complain

The Ayanavaram bus terminus has become a parking yard for private vehicles with an entire bus bay occupied by private vehicles, including cars and even a school bus, causing inconvenience to bus drivers and commuters.

While the bay near the depot entrance is occupied by two-wheelers of the commuters and people visiting the RTO office for Chennai Central region which is located adjacent to the terminus. New vehicles are also often parked in front of the terminus, blocking the easy entry and exit of buses.

The lack of a compound wall with a clear entrance to the terminus also encourage unauthorised entry and parking. “One of the bay at the terminus is completely used by private vehicles like cars, vehicles of local travels agencies and school vans. When we try to enter, there will not be space for the bus. We have been complaining to our senior officials to prevent the private vehicles from entering the terminus but no action has been taken,” said a driver of 23C bus route. 

On an average, 480 bus trips are operated daily from here to many other parts of the city, including Red Hills (114A), Besant Nagar and Tiruvanmiyur (23C) and Broadway (35). A small bus (S55) is also being operated to Aminjikarai. All buses attached to the Ayanavaram terminus are parked at the depot at night. As a result, the terminus is empty at night and private vehicle operators take advantageof the situation. 

K Subash, a regular commuter, said that during the morning peak hours, the buses would be seldom parked outside the terminus due to illegal parking of the vehicles. “The MTC can also open a paid parking for the two-wheelers inside the terminus so that commuters could park their vehicles safely. In the absence of the parking facility, the commuters were forced to leave their two-wheelers at the depot entrance. There are several cases of bike theft in the recent past at the Ayanavaram terminus,” he said. 

An MTC official at the Ayanavaram depot said that the illegal parking could be prevented only if a compound wall is build. “We have taken up with higher officials for constructing a compound wall,” the official said.