Date:04/03/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/03/04/stories/2003030407520300.htm

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

CMDA officials apathetic to encroachments

By P.Oppili

CHENNAI MARCH 3. What was touted as the Asia's largest bus terminus, the Central Mofussil Bus Terminus has quickly slipped into the encroachment-ridden morass that is characteristic of Chennai.

Just months after inauguration, the CMBT, Koyambedu, has come to acquire many of the qualities that mark the crowded and congested bus termini that dot the cities and towns in the State.

Encroachment of public space by shopkeepers, silence from the CMDA officials tasked with the CMBT's maintenance, and poor monitoring by the Government have all contributed to the picture of confusion that the terminus is, today.

A visit on Monday revealed that the problems are rooted in the encroachments that are proliferating in the complex. Shops allotted a particular space to keep snacks, stack water bottle cartons, newspapers and magazines, have brought it all out to the common area. This unauthorised "extension" is found in almost all shops in the complex.

Interestingly even the eateries functioning here have comfortably converted the chairs provided for the passengers and visitors into a small dining hall, forcing them to search for benches well inside the terminus. During evening hours, the eateries use the walkways between the bus bays as mini kitchens, where vegetables are cut, forcing the commuters to keep away from the walking area.

Next one can see the Transport Corporation offices keeping their almirahs and lockers outside their offices, which affects the aesthetic beauty and cleanliness of the place. Moreover, the authorities have not been provided with proper chairs and tables to function, and they use damaged chairs and tables. A few other Transport Corporations have kept their cash box outside tying it with a lock to a bench.

Soon after entering the concourse hall, the visitors first come across the Cooptex showroom. The violation begins right here. Even the Cooptex has displayed the sarees in a rack well away from the allocated space.

Ironically, it is the Government Transport Corporations and Cooptex authorities that have turned into models for such encroachment, encouraging the shop owners to follow suit. All these violations are taking place right in front of the CMDA authorities and the Police, who are demanding a police station inside the CMBT. A station exists outside the CMBT at present.

The unoccupied shops serve as the resting area for most of the transport corporation crew. One can see scores of people sleeping along the walking area late at night and early in the morning. Neither the police nor the CMDA authorities have taken any effort to control such misuse of common space. But, the Transport Corporation authorities have a different story to tell. Though all the Corporations have been provided space for opening offices, these are not enough for their requirements. `Within the cramped office area we are not able to keep all the materials and that is why the lockers and almirahs have been kept outside', said an officer.

Similarly the landscaping work at the entrance has also been stopped suddenly.

A host of incomplete initiatives mark the CMBT, and the trend of converting the available space into personal property by those holding shop leases, marks a sharp deterioration in the longterm prospects that the terminal offers.