The bus stand in Lalgudi has been crying for basic amenities for the past several years. The situation has turned worse during the last five years in particular after the work on construction of the road over bridge close by began.
Absence of bus-bays, encroachments by fruit and flower vendors, parking of about 40 taxis right at the corner of the bus stand hindering the passage to the toilet block behind are some of the major problems being faced by the passengers at the bus stand.
A cross section of taxi drivers said that they were, till a decade ago, operating from outside the bus stand. In fact, a thatched structure had also been erected.
But, due to the construction of the road over bridge, they were evacuated from the Main Road and hence had shifted to the bus stand.
They have been urging the Lalgudi town panchayat to allot a piece of land to be used as taxi stand on the main road. Till then, the Revenue authorities had temporarily allotted to them, the space inside the bus stand. “In fact, a yellow boundary had been painted, indicating the allotment of the site to us on the bus stand premises,” the drivers said.
Town panchayat sources conceded that the taxis posed a problem to the passengers. Although the officials have been directing the taxi drivers not to block the passage to the toilet block, it was of no avail.
Officials said that adequate arrangement for supply of drinking water had been made.
