Post News Network
Puri, Sept 23: After much dilly-dallying, the district administration has relocated the tourist bus stand from Talabania to Malatipatpur on the outskirts of the city.
All tourist buses will hereafter be parked exclusively the ultra-modern bus stand at Malatipatpur which was built to meet the heavy inflow of vehicles during the Nabakalebara ritual of the presiding deities of Srimandir. Sources said more than 60 tourist buses reached Malatipatpur bus stand Wednesday.
The transport department had constructed the ultra-modern bus stand on a 10-acre land with an expenditure of `73.5crore. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the bus stand July 4. However, the bus stand, located at a distance of seven kilometres from the city, was lying unutilised after the completion of Nabakalebara ritual. Subsequently, the transport department and the district administration decided to make use of the bus stand for parking tourist buses.
According to sources, the transport department has engaged a private agency to manage the Malatipatpur bus stand. At present, the agency charges `200 from a tourist bus as parking fee for 24 hours and `20 from minibuses for six hours. Besides, the transport department has allowed the private agency to run a dormitory and two eateries and a few utility shops at the bus stand for the welfare of tourists. Apart from that, the department has deployed a few Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) buses to ferry tourists from the bus stand to the city.
A few tourists, however, expressed dissatisfaction over shortage of basic amenities at Malatipatpur bus stand. They have alleged that most of the lavatories were found locked and there was no provision of drinking water at the bus stand. “At present, there is no regular water supply to the bus stand. Moreover, two high mast LED light posts are not sufficient to illuminate the bus stand premises at night,” said Sefali Hazara, a tourist from West Bengal.
On the other hand, a few tourist bus drivers alleged that the parking fee charged at the bus stand was too high. “Now, we have been asked to pay `200 per bus for a day as parking fee. Authorities should reduce the fee for the betterment tourists,” said Uttam Mandal, a bus driver from West Bengal.