'Foul smell gives me headaches': With Bengaluru’s bus shelters in a shambles, commuters endure difficult wait for their rides

BENGALURU: From garbage heaps and broken seating to cracked floors and missing roofs, many bus shelters — especially the one near Madiwala traffic police station and those along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) in west and south Bengaluru — are in an appalling state. Unhygienic surroundings and persistent foul smell make it nearly impossible for commuters to wait even a few minutes.
Commuters told TOI they are using these bus shelters as they have no other option. They urged civic officials to take immediate action and restore basic cleanliness and hygiene, including installing more dustbins — ideally one every 100 metres — to discourage littering.

Navya MS, a research scholar at Bangalore University, highlighted how commuters face unsanitary conditions and unpleasant smells daily at the Ittige Factory bus shelter in Yelahanka. "The situation is worsened by irregular bus service. With limited transport options, we're forced to endure this. It's the basic job of officials to improve sanitation and cleanliness around the bus stop," she said.
R Rajagopalan, founder-convener of the citizen collective Bengaluru Coalition, pointed out that BBMP's lack of a dedicated budget for bus shelters over the past five years has left a major gap in planning and infrastructure development. "Public transport should be prioritised, and perhaps the responsibility for bus shelters should shift to BMTC for better management, as BBMP lacks a dedicated department for this," he said.
As per official data, there are 1,200 bus shelters in the city that are maintained by BBMP. When asked about the infrastructure, a senior Palike official said contractors would be informed to clean them up.

Chandra Bose | 25, techie
I often use the Madiwala bus shelter to travel to Tamil Nadu on weekends, and I wait there for at least an hour. The surroundings are terrible — the persistent foul smell gives me mild headaches. It has been like this for years. My main concern is not safety but the unbearable odour and long-standing neglect
Karthik Reddy | 32, techie
I travel from Kalyan Nagar to Tin Factory daily. Bus shelters like Babusapalya and Kalyan Nagar are always filled with garbage and smell bad. Starting the day at broken, smelly stops without proper seating is frustrating. When it rains, there's nowhere to stand. Stray dogs add to the mess
Vinay Kumar | 30, daily-wage worker
I commute daily from Magadi Road to City Market. Often, I have to stand outside broken shelters with no seating. Last week, the KR Market stop was flooded with sewage and wasn't cleaned for two days. Still, I have no choice, as buses are affordable
Ashish D Hegde | BTech first-year student
Our college bus stop is always dirty. Most buses don't stop exactly at the shelter, forcing us to walk through trash. I travel from Yelachenahalli to DSATM bus stop daily and often have to stand for long in unhygienic conditions when buses are delayed
Suhas DM | 25, techie
Travelling from Banashankari to Uttarahalli, the garbage around bus shelters often makes me nauseated. The dirty surroundings make waiting uncomfortable and crowd the area, delaying my travel experience