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Where is my bus stop: Commuters
TMT questions BMC over razing bus stops at Mulund; BMC says it was done for stormwater drain work
A few days after two Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) bus stops and control room outside Mulund station were demolished by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) T-ward office, the two agencies are sparring over the move.
TMT said they were not intimated about the demolition but BMC said that they had served a notice. “We had given a letter to the TMT administration but we did not receive any reply,” said a civic officer from T ward.
On February 22, two bus stops and a control room of TMT were demolished for the work of laying a stormwater drains near Mulund railway station on the footpath of Jata Shankar Dosa Road. Around 50,000 commuters use the bus stop and 50 buses operate around 472 services from here.
An official from TMT said the civic body had not taken permission to demolish the bus stops. Thane Municipal Corporation’s (TMC) transport body alleged that the notice was merely put up at the bus stops and not served to them in the head office.
“The BMC’s T-ward had stuck a notice on the bus stops. Officials do not go to the bus stops daily. We did not know that the bus stops were on the way of a project. The bus stops were constructed legally after seeking permission from Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s in 1980s and were not illegal,” said the official.
The demolition of the bus stops has inconvenienced many commuters who have to stand on the busy road waiting for bus. TMT employees too do not have a place to rest.
“TMT officials showed us the documents to prove that the bus stop on the footpath was legal,” said the BMC officer.
“We have told them to build the bus stop after we complete the work. We have also offered to design the bus stop along with Mulund station beautification project and merge it with the BMC bus stop. We are ready to reconstruct the bus stop and they can use it, he added.
The transport authority claimed that while the illegal shops on the footpath in the vicinity were spared, the bus stop and control room were demolished.
“Why was no action taken against the shops and commuters were inconvenienced? We are receiving complaints from commuters as they have to stand on the road waiting for a bus. The T-ward officials have assured us that they will reconstruct the shed after the work is completed,” said the TMT official.
He said the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking runs 200 services in Thane every day.
“It uses most of our bus stops and has also built bus stops without our permission. We have not taken action against any of them. However, we will also survey all the bus stops,” he said, adding that there are many illegal BEST bus stops in TMC limit which they will survey.
The T-ward officials said the work of building storm water drain was undertaken to stop flooding outside the railway station.
The T ward officer said, “The area is prone to flooding during monsoon and water also enters Mulund railway station. We have undertaken the project of installing stormwater drains along this road to prevent waterlogging.”
