Resumption of bus services on E B Road remains a non-starter

Long-standing demand for bus services on East Boulevard Road in Tiruchi remains unmet due to various reasons.

Resumption of bus services on East Boulevard Road (EB Road) in the city has remained a non-starter for several years.

West Boulevard Road and East Boulevard Road run parallel and both of them are arterial roads in the city. Though both of them are classified as bus plying roads, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and the private transporters, who were given route permission by the Transport Department, operate buses only via West Boulevard Road. But, they continue to skip the East Boulevard Road.

It is a long pending demand to resume bus services on East Boulevard Road. The people, who live in the residential colonies along the road, voice their demand for more than 20 years. The issue has been discussed at several meetings of the District Road Safety Council headed by the Collector. The members would invariably question the Regional Transport Authorities, police and TNSTC for failing to resume bus services. There were instances of the Collector’s intervention on many occasions to resume bus services. But, bus services have not materialised.

There were attempts to resume bus services in the past. Sincere attempts were made when K. Rajamani was the Collector in 2017. Similarly, his successor S. Sivarasu also took efforts to resume the bus services. Some buses were operated after Inigo Irudhayaraj of the Christhuva Nallenna Iyakkam became the MLA of Tiruchi East constituency. However, after a few days of operations, the services were again stopped.

According to sources, the bus operators show disinterest to operate buses on EB Road citing encroachment by lorries and trucks. Since it is close to Gandhi Market, the impact of loading and unloading of vegetables, fruits and other goods is reflected on the road.

Citing completion of underground drainage works and the road laying work, local residents say the bus transporters can no longer cite poor condition of the road as a reason for skipping the bus services.

“The width of road with the centre median is sufficient to operate buses on both directions. It is high time to resume bus services,” says D. Senthil Kumar, a resident of E.B. Road.