Ghaziabad, Noida commuters wait roadside as bus shelters go unused

Lakshmi Verma waits by the roadside in Indirapuram for a bus to Muradnagar instead of using the nearby shelter.

“We don’t stand at the bus stop anymore because the buses don’t stop there,” said Verma, a Raj Nagar Extension resident.

Across Ghaziabad, some shelters have been occupied by tyre-repair shops, tea stalls and food vendors. In Gyan Khand, Indirapuram, a paratha stall uses the shelter’s passenger benches and has placed three plastic tables there. In Kanawani, Danish said he has operated a tyre-repair shop from another shelter for eight years and has never seen a bus stop there.

Of Ghaziabad’s 50 city buses, 33 are operating on six routes. The Old Bus Adda–Mandola route has two buses running hourly, while 13 buses run every 15 minutes on the Old Bus Adda–Loni route.

In Noida, commuters described rusted benches, damaged roofs, posters and garbage at shelters in Sectors 18, 19 and 20. Deepak Yadav, travelling to Greater Noida, stood about 300 metres from the Sector 20 bus stop to catch his bus.

District Magistrate Medha Roopam said the Noida Authority would be asked to examine the shelters. Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar said the administration planned discussions with the municipal corporation and development authority on existing and upcoming stops as more city buses are brought into the district.