At Rs 10.8 crore, new bus shelters in Chandigarh low in design, high on cost

Newly constructed bus queue shelter on road between Sector 19 and 27 in Chandigarh. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

Around 186 bus shelters have already been demolished and rebuilt, each at a cost of a whopping Rs 3.5 lakh.

Experts say the expenditure is not only a flagrant misuse of public funds but also a slap in the face of the city’s heritage.

A senior official, member of the Chandigarh Heritage Protection Committee, maintains that “this design was not finalised at all and we got to know when we saw the bus shelters being revamped”.

One of the old bus queue shelter on Madhya Marg in Sector 15 of Chandigarh. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

“This new design has several flaws. We had pointed out the same during the meeting of the heritage committee. These new shelters will demand high maintenance and will start looking shabby very soon. There is a gap at the back so the seat will get wet in rain. The seat/bench itself is painted with distemper which will peel off after some time. This gap left in the back wall for advertisement panels has no protection or proper provision for installation of ad panels,” the official said.

The colour combination of the shelters is blue and read. “These colours fade faster. They could have kept it in exposed concrete which will require lower maintenance. They should know that the paint is difficult to maintain,” the member said.

On the issue of display of real-time information for visitors, the member stated, “Also, there is no proper provision for display panel for buses and routes; it is just on one sidewall. The worst part is that the bench is plastered and painted with distemper which will stain, chip and peel off at the edges.”

The shelters are not properly engineered for specially abled people. “The tactile flooring for visually disabled is in the centre but the door of the bus is either in the front or at the back, so how would it help the specially abled people? Then there is no signage in Braille or audio clues so they don’t know which bus is coming and when. Usually some space is left for wheelchair users which is not there,” said another senior member of the committee, requesting anonymity.

“These new bus shelters are definitely a sham. The basic purpose of these shelters is to either protect two wheeler drivers from rain or for those waiting for the buses. And these new shelters don’t even serve the basic purpose so why a spending of such whopping Rs 10.8 crore,” Chandigarh Mayor Anup Gupta said.

Experts suggest that exposed concrete and brickwork would have been better as far as the new design is concerned.

However, C B Ojha, Chief Engineer of Chandigarh Administration, told The Indian Express, “This new design is nice. Now we can put up display board with real-time info of buses and their arrival. These are all-weather bus shelter where you get protection from heat, rain and rough weather.”

He added, “In fact, the stainless steel bus shelters that were initially being planned were turning out to be really expensive. On these new ones, advertisements can also be easily put up. There won’t be any scope for people to sleep there — the way it used to be in the previous design.”