Jharsugada: A long-awaited demand of residents of Jharsugada town was fulfilled when health and family welfare minister Nabakishore Das flagged off the first fleet of City Buses for Jharsugada district Thursday. While two buses were launched under various routes in the first phase, a few more buses would be introduced at a later stage.
The City Buses will provide special services to women and senior citizens. Reasonably low fares – starting from Rs 10 per kilometer, CCTVs, online ticketing facilities and an app-based system to know the routes and timing of buses will make the service popular among people.
There is even a discount of 20 percent for those who use the Odyssey card specially launched for the service and 10 percent on digital wallet payments.
In the launch program, District Collector Saroj Kumar Samal, additional collector Pradeepta Sahoo, MVI Janmajaye Nayak and Jharsugada Muncipal Council Executive Officer Ramachandra Pradhan were present.
The first ride system for the passengers was made free from Gandhi Chhak to District Headquarters Hospital.
The buses are equipped with features such as in-vehicle CCTV cameras to keep an eye on the conduct of staff, adequate number of seats for women and senior citizens and all-women conductors. Commuters can avail free wi-fi facility provided in the bus.
However as the buses have not received their pollution certificates till now, confusion has been created about the validity of the service. MVI Janmajaye clarified that pollution certificate of the buses will be cleared soon.
The routes to be covered in the first phase include Brudamal Chakk, Vedanta Township, Sunari Munda, Railway Crossing, Sarabahl Chhak, Manmohan ME School, Janda Chhak, Kisan Chhak, MP Office Chhak and Durgamandir Chhak.
The buses will ply from 7 am to 8 pm on the designated routes. Regular City Bus service to other areas will commence in the second phase.