Bus stops around the city are becoming examples of how public money has been misused. While some have been turned into parking lots, others are occupied by vendors to run makeshift stalls. This is the condition of the old bus as well the swanky bus stops that came up in 2014-15 at a cost of around Rs 14 crore. The new bus shelters were developed by the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (BUIDCo), which gave away maintenance and advertisement rights to private agencies. The old bus stops, on the other hand, have become nobody's baby, with both PMC and Buidco authorities washing their hands of it. PMC deputy municipal commissioner Vishal Anand said the corporation handed over their work to some private agency years ago and papers related to the arrangement had gone missing. But Buidco officials claimed PMC was supposed to maintain those. Shuchismita Chakraborty visited different bus stops on Saturday to report their condition.
1) GAIGHAT
What we saw: A makeshift tea shop running inside the bus stop was serving tea along with snacks like samosa. The tea-seller had even put benches in front of the bus stop, blocking the front view of the bus stand.
2) OUTSIDE PATNA MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL
What we saw: Four-wheelers were parked there, making the bus stop wholly inaccessible to
commuters.
3) NEAR KARGIL CHOWK AT GANDHI MAIDAN
What we saw: The bus stop has turned into a vendor zone. Vendors have set up makeshift stalls to sell aamjhor (raw mango drink), gupchup, sattu drink in front of the stop.
4) NEAR PATNA JUNCTION
What we saw: Construction-related machines and materials lying scattered in front of the bus stop
5) FRASER ROAD
What we saw: Whither bus stop? It looked like it had turned into a thela (cart-puller) stop instead. Cart-pullers were seen resting on their carts.
6) BAILEY ROAD
What we saw: A four-wheeler parked inside
RESIDENTSPEAK
"The location of some of the bus stands, such as the one on Fraser Road, is strategically wrong. The authorities did not put a thought into the location. It has
resulted in wastage of public money, as those bus stops are not in use.
Ashok Kumar of Gandhi Maidan
"Buses don't stop to pick up or drop passengers at several bus stops in the city because those are not visible any more, owing to encroachment."
Manu Kumar of Sabjibagh
AUTHORITYSPEAK
Deputy municipal commissioner Vishal gave assurance that PMC would remove encroachment from both the old and new bus stops as it was its job.
Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh