Chennai rains: Nearly 700 buses of 3,200 stay off roads

Chennai: Fearing breakdown and accidents in waterlogged areas, nearly one-fourth of the total bus drivers and conductors stayed away from the roads leaving 700 buses to stay idle at depots.

According to confidential sources, the operating ratio of MTC fleet was only 76.49 per cent as against the usual 98 per cent attendance. It is understood that fearing accidents, a large number of crew members chose to stay indoors.

Moreover, despite promises from the MTC ensuring the proper condition of buses this monsoon, as many as seven buses broke down midway on Tuesday.

It is to be noted two cases of breakdowns at Guindy and Nandambakkam were already recorded the previous day after heavy spells.

“Breakdowns were witnessed at Adyar signal, LIC, Velachery police station, Olympia in Ekkattuthangal, Padur, Fort station and Devi theatre in Triplicane. The passengers were diverted to the next bus and the damaged bus was sent to the concerned depot for repairs,” said a senior MTC official.

Also, due to waterlogging at Thiruvanmiyur and Anna Nagar bus depots, few buses stayed in the terminus. With only 2,500 buses plying in the city, the public, mainly office-goers was put into hardship as the frequency of the buses was very low. Commuters complained that the buses that usually come within a time gap of five minutes took more than 40 minutes on Tuesday.

“Though there was no rain, not many buses were seen on the roads. Cabs and autos that surged their prices, cashing the opportunity, added to our woes, Moreover, though the department recently claimed that they have repaired faulty roofs, rainwater, like any other day, seeped inside the buses,” rued R. Allen, a regular commuter, adding that the frequency of southbound buses was particularly low.

On the other hand, drivers said they stayed off duty due to the poor condition of buses. “Many times, the brake shoe stops working when water starts seeping in.

Also, the headlights are so dim to highlight potholes and puddles. During every monsoon, we witness a lot of accidents and we do not want to risk our lives with this,” said a driver on condition of anonymity.

It’s déjà vu of 2015 floods in waterlogged Kanchi

Memories of 2015 flash floods came back to haunt the residents of Kancheepuram district with Tambaram, Perungaluthur, Mudhichur witnessing water logging for the second consecutive day.

Anjugam Nagar in Tambaram on Tuesday saw about 100 families vacating their hutments after stormwater entered their houses. Arterial Mudhichur road also remained non motorable with water falling to recede till noon. Subways in and around Tambaram also submerged leaving motorists to travel extra distance till late evening.

The delay in Papan canal repair works and the faulty motor pumps of Tambaram municipality added to the water woes. Traffic along GST road was also affected due to waterlogging and the high-level team led by district collector P. Ponniah also took stock of the water logged GST Road.

“For the past two years we have the suffered the flood and the cyclone and again this year we are left in lurch. We will not allow politicians to enter our locality”, screamed Bhuvaneshwari, a resident of Tambaram Krishna nagar.

Monsoon relief special officer P. Amudha also visited the water-logged areas in Pallavaram and ordered relief works on war footing.

“We have formed 48 zone wise teams to tackle the monsoon. A fifteen-member squad will be available during the night time for each local body and there is nothing to panic”, Kancheepuram collector told reporters adding that the relief team will have electrician, driver, engineers and health workers equipped with cutters, generators and earth movers.

The Rs 19 crore Pappan canal work will be completed shortly and this would alleviate flooding in several parts of Kanncheepuram district, he said.