Inconvenienced tourists seek more buses from and to Mahabalipuram

CHENGALPATTU: Tourists who frequent Mahabalipuram have raised concerns over the lack of proper buses which have turned out to be a major cause of inconvenience to the people visiting the town.

Thousands of people from other states and countries come to the town on an everyday basis, especially on weekends and special occasions to see the monuments that are famous all around the world.

While the transport corporation was plying several buses to the area a few years ago, it abruptly halted all the special buses causing a lot of difficulty for people to travel to Mamallapuram.

Buses from Kalpakkam to Chennai via the East Coast Road were plying for every 45 minutes few years ago and there were also several buses coming into Mahabalipuram from Kanchipuram, Vandavasi, Tirupati and also from several areas in Chennai like Velachery, Broadway, Adyar, Ennore and many more places. However, the transport corporation cited that there were not enough funds to operate so many buses and halted several buses to Mamallapuram after 2008.

On December 23, a 20-day long dance fest was inaugurated in the town for which several people visited Mahabalipuram to enjoy the performances.

Since not many buses were operating between the route people faced trouble in commuting. Similarly, on New Year’s eve when thousands of people visit Mahabalipuram to celebrate, instead of operating more buses, the buses that usually ply the route were also halted between 5 pm to 9 pm.

Owing to these incidents that caused a lot of difficulty to the tourists, especially women and children, people have requested the government to operate more buses along the route.

They pointed out that with Pongal celebrations just around the corner, the town might see an increased inflow of tourists for which the connectivity should be planned in a better manner.