Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 22: Buoyed by the successful implementation of city bus services in five major cities of the state – Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sambalpur and Berhampur – the state government has decided to introduce city bus services in Rourkela, Balasore and Koraput to boost public transport system in these towns.
The housing and urban development department has decided to procure 140 buses to roll out in the three towns besides introducing a new route along Cuttack-Choudwar.
While 50 buses will ply between Cuttack-Choudwar, 30 each will be introduced on Balasore-Bhadrak, Koraput-Jeypore-Sunabeda and Rourkela -Biramitrapur-Rajgangpur routes, a senior official of the department said.
While 110 buses will be funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, the state will purchase the remaining 30 buses. Each bus will cost around Rs 25 lakh, the official said.
Six buses from Berhampur will be diverted to Rourkela temporarily to commence the city bus services on a pilot basis.
Three new special purpose vehicles (SPVs) will be formed and the SPVs will be registered under the Trust Act in order to run the city bus services.
“As a lot of compliances are needed to run the SPVs under Companies Act, we have decided to register the new SPVs under the Trusts Act,” the official informed.
That apart, the state government has also sought a retail project proposal from Paradip municipality for operationalisation of the city bus service in that town.
The state government in February, this year, introduced city bus services in Sambalpur and Berhampur. In 2010, city bus services were launched in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack under the Centrally-sponsored JNNURM scheme.
