Team Herald
PONDA: Commuters from Ponda and those passing through the town are facing a harrowing time for the past over one year, since the repair work on the KTC bus stand is progressing at a snail’s pace. As a result the commuters have to brave the hot sun and now the approaching monsoon.
Despite several pleas to the government, the authorities have not bothered to expedite the work. After facing lot of hardship commuters have now demanded that the work on KTC shed be carried out on a war footing to provide shelter from the rain.
The commuters even questioned why the government talks of Antodaya and reaching out to the last man when the poorest of the poor who use this bus stand are neglected while availing the services at the Ponda KTC bus stand.
It may be recalled that in 2022 the government had declared the KTC bus stand shed as unsafe for passengers and barricaded it to prohibit entry of commuters due since the structure was on the verge of collapsing. Later government began renovation work and the contractor was told to complete the repair work on shed and strengthen the structure in one year time. But after working for few months the contractor abandoned the work for reasons best known to the authorities.
Thereafter, since past two month, the contractor again started repair work with few workers. The businessmen, motorcycle taxi operators and rickshaw operators claimed due to pathetic condition of the bus stand, inter-State buses are alighting passengers at main road and they are not getting customers.
They also said that small temporary bus shed erected to accommodate commuters is not sufficient and forced to stand in the or below trees.
Locals are furious over slow pace of work on renovation of KTCL and demand that the work be completed on a war footing.
When questioned, Directorate of Transport official said that he had written to the PWD, which is doing the renovation work, to complete it at the earliest.
