A bus stand sans buses, passengers

​Narayankhed: At a time when TSRTC has been struggling to break even, here is a bus stand, renovated by the government spending lakhs of rupees, which wears a deserted look even during peak hours on a working day.

The Narayankhed bus stand was built in 1980 when Baga Reddy was the Member of Parliament. It later bustled with activity for more than two decades. Things changed for the worse almost 10 years ago when buses started skirting the bus stand and picking up passengers from Rajiv Chowk and the nearby main roads.

Naturally this has been causing serious problems for traffic and inconvenience to the members of public. ‘Experienced’ passengers have no option but to stand on the roads waiting for buses.

On Friday morning, not a single person could be seen at the bus stand between 9 and 10 pm -- the busiest time for school, college and working class in transit.

Yadul, a tea vendor whose stall is located outside the bus stand, has been living there for the past three decades. “There used to be lot of activity at the bus stand. There were many stalls. Vendors and passengers used to flock the place all the time.

Now, only buses from the Narayankhed depot halt for a brief moment at the bus stand as a formality. Buses from other depots don’t even care to enter the premises,” he said.

A bore well was dug at the bus stand successfully due to the interest shown by T Harish Rao, who was the person in charge of the Narayankhed constituency during the by-election. Later, CC road was constructed so that buses could be parked inside while in transit.

There is also a drinking water tank inside the bus stand to store supplies from Manjeera. There is also lot of office space on the first floor of the bus stand.

However, the toilets have been locked. It is a different matter that there is no water supply to the rest rooms. There are a couple of shuttered stalls at the bus stand. The entire first floor has been locked. Miscreants have been using the stairways leading to the first floor as a ‘madhushala’ and the whole place is full of bottles, plastic cups, urine and garbage.

Except for an outsourced person (who issues bus passes to students) and another employee (marketing cell in-charge), nobody else could be seen working there. The bus depot manager’s office is located near the bus depot, which is almost a kilometre away from the bus stand.

In the absence of buses and passengers, nobody has felt the need for a controller on the premises.
Buses plying to Bidar, Zaheerabad, Nizamabad and other places don’t care to get anywhere near the bus stand. They are diverted from Rajiv Chowk itself.

People who are not from Narayankhed, who don’t know this strange phenomenon of buses not stopping at the bus stand, waste hours of time waiting there until they are pointedly told by someone that the buses don’t stop at the bus stand.

Locals say that jobs could be created and revenues enhanced for TSRTC only if all buses are required to stop at the bus stand. Roadside vendors, hawkers, autos, taxis and even beggars would also benefit.

When The Hans India tried to contact the Depot Manager, he was stated to be “busy in a meeting” and remained inaccessible on Friday.