Residents face hardships as Gummidipoondi bus depot project remains stalled after 12 years
The project involves acquiring over four acres of land in Pethikuppam village, Gummidipoondi taluk, in Thiruvallur district, located along the front face of National Highway 16.
'The absence of a dedicated bus depot has created challenges for daily commuters, affecting the livelihoods and well-being of our community members,' said S. Suresh Babu, president of the Billakuppam Village Welfare Association. 'The lack of a proper facility has not only reduced public transport efficiency but also increased travel time and passenger inconvenience,' he added.
Frequency of local buses
Gummidipoondi has its own bus stand located in the middle of the town, in a densely populated area. However, the frequency of local bus services to Chennai is lower than required. Moreover, long-distance buses stop on the National Highway, which is about one and a half kilometers away from the bus stand, causing inconvenience to the public.
K. Munirathinam, a CPI(M) party functionary from the town, said, 'We are not well connected to the city, the district headquarters Thiruvallur, or nearby areas. One has to walk one and half kilometers from the town or take another vehicle catch long-distance buses on the National Highway. Most such long-distance buses do not come into the town.'
He added that over 10,000 workers are employed at the SIPCOT near Gummidipoondi and most of them hail from other districts. Like locals, they are also facing difficulty commuting from the town.
'We have a bus stand inside the town, which connects it to several panchayats in and around the area. People from 61 panchayats use the bus stand as a connecting point. At present, the bus stand does not have a shelter for passengers to protect them from the scorching sun or the rains during monsoons. There are no bus bays either. It lacks basic amenities,' complained M. Kannan, a resident of Gummidipoondi.
When asked about these complaints, DMK MLA T.J. Govindarajan had said in the Assembly, 'I have raised the question of setting up the proposed bus depot and bus stand off the National Highway.'
New bus stand
Replying to Mr. Govindarajan's question, Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar had said, taking into account the financial situation, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) depot will be set up in Gummidipoondi this year. There is a bus stand in Gummidipoondi town, where very few buses can be parked. 'So, the District Collector has identified a premise in Pethikuppam village for setting up a new bus stand, where buses will be operated to Chennai city. Both the bus stand and depot will be set up this year,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Modi should strongly oppose U.S. imposing 50% tariff, says Chief Minister Stalin
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in Chennai on Tuesday that the BJP-led Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should strongly oppose the U.S. imposing 50% tariff on Indian imports and both should be open about their position. He was speaking at an event organised jointly by the National Committee of Solidarity with Cuba in India and the CPI(M). When five rounds of trade negotiations between India and the U.S. were completed and a date was being finalised for the sixth round, 'Why should U.S. President [Donald] Trump arbitrarily announce the imposing of additional tariff?', Mr. Stalin asked. Referring to the repeated claims of Mr. Trump that he was behind the ceasefire between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Mr. Stalin said: 'When the Opposition parties raised queries over that in both Houses of Parliament, Prime Minister Modi did not answer at all. It symbolises his weakness.' Observing that there was a crisis across the world, where there is a need to crush imperialism, Mr. Stalin said imperialist conspiracies did not mean only wars. 'The U.S. imposing 50% tariff on imports from India is also one such conspiracy,' he asserted. 'The BJP-led Union government should strongly oppose this. The Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should provide a transparent reply to this,' Mr. Stalin said. Takes a dig at EPS Talking about the politics in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Stalin said AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami had developed a new found love for the Communists in recent days. Contending that people spoke about random topics, Mr. Stalin asked whether Mr. Palaniswami could speak about 'slavery'. 'I want to tell him that none is a slave to nobody. Everyone is wondering if Mr. Palaniswami reads newspapers. Even so, you would surely not read Theekkathir [considered a mouthpiece of the CPI(M)]. If you had read it, you would not be speaking like this. I read Theekkathir every day,' he said. Mr. Stalin said he listened to what Communist leaders spoke whenever he had time. 'They have not stopped flagging issues just because we are in an alliance, and I have not ignored the issues that they have highlighted. Because, half of us are communists. After all, my name is Stalin,' he asserted. Mr. Stalin added: 'We know how to distinguish pointing out with a friendly demeanour from deliberate defamation with ulterior motives. Even this stage symbolises our ideological clarity and friendship.' Minister P.K. Sekarbabu, Cuban Ambassador to India Juan Carlos Marsán Aguilera, CPI(M) leaders M.A. Baby, K. Balakrishnan, U. Vasuki, and P. Shanmugam, CPI State secretary R. Mutharasan, Director of The Hindu Publishing Group N. Ram, former MP T.K. Rangarajan, National Committee of Solidarity with Cuba's State secretary A. Arumuga Nainar were present.
Economic Times
4 hours ago
- Economic Times
See you in court! Trump targets Fed Chair Jerome Powell with massive lawsuit threat
Donald Trump lawsuit Jerome Powell: Donald Trump is threatening a lawsuit against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over a $3 billion renovation project he deems "horrible and grossly incompetent." Trump claims the project should have cost only $50 million. He also reiterated his demand for Powell to cut interest rates immediately, despite concerns about rising core inflation. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Donald Trump Threatens Lawsuit Against Jerome Powell Over Fed's $3 Billion Renovation Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Trump Repeats Call for Powell to Slash Interest Rates Immediately Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs US president Donald Trump is once again turning up the heat on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, this time threatening a major lawsuit over what he calls a "horrible and grossly incompetent" handling of a costly renovation project at the Fed's Washington headquarters, as per a wrote on his social media site Truth Social, saying that he is "considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings," as quoted by pointed out that, "Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!," but he did not give any details about the lawsuit to which he was referring, as per the Newsweek READ: AI upstart Perplexity shocks tech world with $34.5 billion bid to snatch Google Chrome The Federal Reserve, however, has pointed to a range of unforeseen issues as reasons for the ballooning costs, including the discovery of more asbestos than initially known, toxic soil contamination, and redesigns that were necessary as the project evolved, according to the report. The Fed also highlighted that the modernisation project will ultimately save money by consolidating most of its operations, as per the Newsweek Fed chair and US president have previously clashed over this during Trump's visit to the Fed construction project in July, when Powell disputed his characterisation of the costs involved, as reported by READ: Is it AI or Trump's policies? US sees brutal 140% layoff spike in July, worst surge since early COVID chaos Trump also repeated his demand for Powell to cut interest rates in his Truth Social post after the publication of the most recent inflation data, according to the headline rate of CPI inflation held steady at 2.7% in July, while the underlying rate of core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose to 3.1% in the month, increasing from 2.9% in June, as per the Newsweek the US central bank has held off cutting rates due to concerns that Trump's tariffs may fuel an increase in inflation, and has been waiting for more data before making a move, according to the report. But markets now expect a September rate cut, as inflation is fairly stable and jobs data is weakening, reported wrote that "Jerome 'Too Late' Powell must NOW lower the rate," and also called the Fed chair a "loser," as per the US president highlighted that "The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we've blown through Powell and the complacent Board," as quoted im the Newsweek some experts have warned that the rising core inflation data is a red flag, like Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, wrote on X that "CPI was in line with expectations, but the trend is heading in the wrong direction," adding, "It may not prevent a rate cut by the Fed in September, because policy is 'restrictive' but progress toward 2% inflation appears to have stalled," as quoted in the believes the Federal Reserve's $3 billion renovation project has been mismanaged and cost far more than expect a rate cut in September, but it depends on inflation and job market data, as per the Newsweek report.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
See you in court! Trump targets Fed Chair Jerome Powell with massive lawsuit threat
Donald Trump lawsuit Jerome Powell : US president Donald Trump is once again turning up the heat on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, this time threatening a major lawsuit over what he calls a "horrible and grossly incompetent" handling of a costly renovation project at the Fed's Washington headquarters, as per a report. Donald Trump Threatens Lawsuit Against Jerome Powell Over Fed's $3 Billion Renovation Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social, saying that he is "considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings," as quoted by Newsweek. Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass - Batch 4 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals Batch 2 By Ansh Mehra View Program Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass - Batch 3 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals By Vaibhav Sisinity View Program Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass - Batch 2 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program Finance Value and Valuation Masterclass Batch-1 By CA Himanshu Jain View Program He pointed out that, "Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!," but he did not give any details about the lawsuit to which he was referring, as per the Newsweek report. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 11 Foods That Help In Healing Knee Pain Naturally Undo ALSO READ: AI upstart Perplexity shocks tech world with $34.5 billion bid to snatch Google Chrome The Federal Reserve, however, has pointed to a range of unforeseen issues as reasons for the ballooning costs, including the discovery of more asbestos than initially known, toxic soil contamination, and redesigns that were necessary as the project evolved, according to the report. The Fed also highlighted that the modernisation project will ultimately save money by consolidating most of its operations, as per the Newsweek report. Live Events The Fed chair and US president have previously clashed over this during Trump's visit to the Fed construction project in July, when Powell disputed his characterisation of the costs involved, as reported by Newsweek. ALSO READ: Is it AI or Trump's policies? US sees brutal 140% layoff spike in July, worst surge since early COVID chaos Trump Repeats Call for Powell to Slash Interest Rates Immediately Trump also repeated his demand for Powell to cut interest rates in his Truth Social post after the publication of the most recent inflation data, according to the report. The headline rate of CPI inflation held steady at 2.7% in July, while the underlying rate of core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose to 3.1% in the month, increasing from 2.9% in June, as per the Newsweek report. Meanwhile, the US central bank has held off cutting rates due to concerns that Trump's tariffs may fuel an increase in inflation, and has been waiting for more data before making a move, according to the report. But markets now expect a September rate cut, as inflation is fairly stable and jobs data is weakening, reported Newsweek. Trump wrote that "Jerome 'Too Late' Powell must NOW lower the rate," and also called the Fed chair a "loser," as per the report. The US president highlighted that "The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we've blown through Powell and the complacent Board," as quoted im the Newsweek report. However, some experts have warned that the rising core inflation data is a red flag, like Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, wrote on X that "CPI was in line with expectations, but the trend is heading in the wrong direction," adding, "It may not prevent a rate cut by the Fed in September, because policy is 'restrictive' but progress toward 2% inflation appears to have stalled," as quoted in the report. FAQs Why is Trump threatening to sue Jerome Powell? Trump believes the Federal Reserve's $3 billion renovation project has been mismanaged and cost far more than necessary. Will the Fed cut rates soon? Markets expect a rate cut in September, but it depends on inflation and job market data, as per the Newsweek report.
