Bhadrak: Residents living in the civic body area have been deprived of bus service. The authorities have been making efforts since 2014 to run city buses, but they have not been successful.
Reports said the urban development department has held several rounds of meetings with civic body authorities of Bhadrak and Balasore to put the ambitious bus service in place. A committee named Balasore-Bhadrak Urban Transport Trust was formed for the purpose. Collectors, SPs, RTOs of both the districts and executive officer of civic bodies are part of the trust.
But it was stated that this service is not being implemented due to lack of infrastructure. As per guidelines, the Bhadrak civic body should provide four acres of land for a bus terminal so that the urban development department will make buses available.
The civic body has proposed to the urban development department that city buses can get parking facility at Bhadrak old bus stand and Charampa OSRTC bus terminal. Bust this proposal remained stuck at the urban development department. Residents said the project may not see the light of day until four acres of land is provided to the department.
City Bus service has been launched in Balasore, but Bhadrak is still eagerly waiting for the service.
The Bhadrak municipality comprises 30 wards while its limits have been ever expanding due to a sustained rise in population. In 1950, Bhadrak was declared an NAC with only 12 wards. In 1988, it was made a municipality comprising 30 wards.
Residents say 24 years have passed since Bhadrak sub-division was made a district. But in these years the civic body has not made much progress as expected in the last two decades. Mainly, communication has still been a problem.
Initially, it was decided that 10 city buses would run in Bhadrak, Dhamnagar and Chandbali. But nobody knows when the project will be launched.
Executive officer of Bhadrak Municipality Sitansu Samal said two acres of land is not available for the bust stand. PNN
