Restroom wanted at SATIS

The Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons including traffic congestion, bad lighting and poor frequency of the buses. Another issue that has been brought to light is that there are no restrooms in the sprawling area of the SATIS.
Women commuters have to wait for hours on end for buses, and they have voiced their displeasure against the issue.
Despite the fact that there is a tremendous increase in the revenue generated by Thane railway station over the past few years, the railway authorities as well as Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has neglected the development of the SATIS.

The problem
The Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) operates buses for almost 4,000 routes from SATIS, and has about 30 bus stops. Many residents rely on these bus services including the female commuters.
The buses for all the routes are invariably late. However, the commuters travelling to Pawar Nagar and Ghodbunder road are most affected as these areas are located at long distances from the station.
This is of great inconvenience to the female commuters.
Another issue is that the Thane railway station has 11 platforms. However, washrooms are available at only three of those platforms (platform no 1, 2 and 10A).

Commuters’ voice
Geeta De, Thane resident and a regular commuter, adds, “The situation is very uncomfortable for us. Very often I wait at the SATIS for more than an hour. The frequency of buses for Pawar Nagar is highly irregular.
“Hence, sometimes I end up
waiting there for more than one hour. There are no restrooms at the SATIS, although there are few at the station, they are in a bad condition. Controlling your bladder can lead to kidney stones.”
Another resident Chaitra Das shares, “Due to construction work going on at various places in Thane, the travelling time has increased. This long wait for a bus and the longer journey leads to a lot of inconvenience for the female commuters. We hope the officials take heed and realise this is an important issue faced by many women.”

Official take  
V Malegaonkar, chief PRO, Central Railway, says that the SATIS has been handed over to the Thane Municipal Corporation, and now it has to look into any problems regarding the same.
TMC PRO Sandeep Malwi also passed the buck to railways. He adds, “We are ready to build restroom at the SATIS, provided the railway authorities give us the necessary permission.”

--Padmja Sinha