No seats then, no roof too now: the strange case of a bus stop in Selaiyur

On account of a protracted road-widening exercise by the State highways, Tambaram Velachery Main Road might be in a state of flux; but should that prevent temporary bus shelters complete with seats from being raised, wherever necessary?

On the State Highways-managed Tambaram Velachery Main Road, around the Mahalakshmi Nagar bus stand (for West Tambaram-bound buses) in Selaiyur, Madurai Military Hotel, R.K. Sri Muniyandi Vilas and Tasty Hotel bestow a rare brand of hospitality upon those entering their geographical coordinates. They are like the hundred-handed Hecatoncheires from Greek mythology, extending their many helpful hands not only to their paying customers, but to bus commuters outside, standing shelterless and seatless.

At the Mahalakshmi Nagar bus stop on Tambaram Velachery Main Road, commuters resort to finding seating spaces at commercial establishments nearby | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK

For a long time, these commuters had been going seatless, standing under the corrugated steel roof of a narrow shelter, the older commuters hunkering down when their knees creak in protest at the workload. After the State highways managed to widen this section of the road, these commuters would be waiting under this shelter, calling to mind the cliched image of shipwrecked travellers standing in a precarious mound of earth in the midst of a vast sea, its cascading waves threatening to overrun their only refuge. And this refuge for commuters was removed. Inadequate though it was, its loss has meant something to these commuters, as they are now not just seatless, but roofless too. 

Mahalakshmi Nagar bus stand as it was on December 14, 2026. | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK

This shelter was torn down, and its poles shifted to the edge of the road, suggesting the construction of a shelter located in an appropriate and safe space. For well over a month now, the promise has remained a promise. These poles stand shelterless along with the commuters. And where the shelter stood, a barricade now stands as the only bulwark against vehicles being driven in the wrong direction. 

The State highways should have rustled up a temporary shelter with seating, and not allowed these commuters to run into the arms of the shops around the bus stand, seeking to rest their tired limbs. These commuters can be seen helping themselves to makeshift seats, in other words, the steel stairs, the raised platform and so on offered by these shops. This is no sit-in protest and these commuters are gently souls resigned to their lot, but this can be construed as a sit-in, underlining official indifference.