Where to go? Bus destination boards ‘missing’ at Ponda stand

PONDA: The renovated KTC bus stand at Ponda is once again in the news as the boards mentioning the bus destination have gone missing causing inconvenience and hardship to commuters. 

What has surprised the commuters is that bus destination display boards have been replaced by advertising boards of an insurance company.

To make matters worse is that buses are parked on opposite sides of bus stand including Kadamba buses. However, on both sides, the bus destination boards which existed before renovation have not been installed to guide passengers to their respective destinations. In the absence of these destination boards, passengers are often found waiting as the bus to reach their respective destination is parked on the other side. This has caused immense hardship to passengers who are inconvenienced and are compelled to waste their time in searching the bus and very often miss their bus.  

Shopkeepers at bus stand said earlier there were boards but when the renovation work commenced last year they were removed and this has affected their business. 

It is pertinent to note that the bus stand has been in news for the past couple of years as its shed is in bad shape, and even the government has declared it unsafe. 

Ashish Lotlikar, a bus driver, emphasised the absence of destination boards, leading to passenger inconvenience. He pointed out that many passengers prefer waiting at the old bus stand, where buses connect to various parts of Goa. Lotlikar urged the installation of destination boards to enhance passenger convenience.

Sunaina, a female passenger, expressed concern, suggesting that the government should promptly install destination boards. She highlighted the necessity to prevent hardships for women and senior citizens when searching for buses to their destinations or villages.

Viraj Sapre criticised the government for repeatedly neglecting the basic needs of passengers. He noted that passengers often miss their buses due to the absence of destination boards, forcing them to search extensively. Sapre proposed that the government should consider soliciting sponsorship from companies in exchange for allowing advertisement boards.

When contacted by O Heraldo, the KTC Control Room employees appeared clueless and added they were not aware of any hardship caused to the passengers on account of the missing boards.