Encroachments, mostly roadside shops, were razed at the newly-opened bus bay on the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) at Vallalar Nagar in Vellore on Wednesday to prevent traffic congestion on the route. Similar encroachments on an open space near the bus bay were also removed.
Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which maintains the new bus bays on the service lanes of the highway, said that the open space near the bus bay had been encroached by vegetable vendors, small shops, and pushcarts for the past few months. This had obstructed free movement of vehicles, including town buses operated by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) on the service lane towards Chennai.
“Despite repeated warnings, the encroachers continued to occupy public space near the new bus bay, which affected the traffic movement. We removed the encroachments and restored the open space for the public,” said an NHAI official.
More than 30 shops were demolished in the exercise. The new bus bays in Vallalar Nagar on the service lane were built a few months ago after demolishing a defunct Government Primary School to provide a safe bus stop for local commuters. Earlier, commuters used to wait on the carriageway of the highway to board town buses. Some commuters used to cross the highway to board the buses. This had resulted in accidents, including fatal ones.
