The waiting sheds that waits

The waiting sheds that wait

Visakh M

The fast bus applies a screeching brake and stops – not at the bus stop but quite a few metres away and passengers run towards the vehicle clutching their suitcases and handbags. This is an all too familiar sight in Thiruvananthapuram city.  The waiting sheds set up by the corporation, PWD and traffic police are seldom taken much notice of. Plenty of such sheds remain unused as passengers and sometimes even the bus drivers prefer to keep away from them for some unknown reason. Almost all the bus stops in the city have waiting shelters. Bus Shelters at Museum premises and at Kowdiar are quite modern and sophisticated, yet people prefer to avoid them.

Kariavattom Bus Stop

               

                The Kariavattom area is one of the busiest educational spots in Trivandrum. A large number of students, lecturers, professors and other staff wait here to board buses. Corporation authority has built waiting sheds to ensure passenger comfort. However, the sheds remain mute spectators to the traffic flow. The real problem seems to be that waiting shed use is not mandatory. The directions of traffic wardens go unheeded. These sheds are mostly used by drunkards, drug addicts, stray dogs and beggers . It is ironical that this is going on at the University, a centre of education and thus a symbol of civilization.