Vijayawada: A lack of bus shelters have added to the summer woes of city commuters. In the absence of bus shelters at more than 100 locations in city, people have been suffering in the scorching heat of the sun. Temperatures have already begun to rise over the last two weeks and nearing 40 degree Celsius.The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has mooted an idea to build air-conditioned bus shelters in the city, but very little progress has been made in this regard. Except one bus shelter that was built on MG Road, the civic body did not take up construction of even normal shelters at other places.According to the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) officials, bus shelters are needed at as many as 110 places in the city. More than 4.5 lakh people commute daily in city buses being run by the APSRTC. They had to bear the brunt of weather be it monsoon or the summer. Even M G Road and Eluru Road which are the busiest routes, did not have bus shelters at most of the places. The shelters that were removed during road expansion were not restored.Heavy congesting traffic is another problem that is on the rise due to lack of bus shelters. People have gotten used to stand on the roads blocking the entire road, creating bottlenecks.Stopping of city buses at junction points puts motorists and pedestrians at risk of meeting with accidents as they block the vision for them.The roads that leading to villages such as Kanuru and Poranki that are densely populated, remain the same even after the expansion of Bandar Road into four lanes.GFX:APSRTC identified 110 locations where bus shelters needed.4 lakh passengers commute every day in city buses.APSRTC running more than 6500 sorties in various routes every day in the city.Existing bus shelters removed during road expansion works but not restored after completion of works.Air conditioned bus shelters by VMC remain non-starter in the city.Only one bus AC bus shelter constructed on M G Road.Key locations where bus shelters were not present:NTR Circle, Patamata, Auto Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Siddartha College, Five Route, Poranki and Penamaluru.

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