Dhenkanal: Five years have passed since a model bus stand was envisaged for the ever-increasing populace of Dhenkanal town. But the project has not progressed at all due to the non-availability of a suitable location.
The old bus stand is hardly meeting the requirements of the passengers and they face problems on a daily basis. Resentment among the residents of the town as well as frequent commuters are building up against the local administration as it is not making a whole-hearted effort to construct a modern bus terminus.
Dhenkanal is very important from the political, administrative and industry perspective. A number of industries have set up their units in this district and there are national level institutions like the IIMC. If the tourism potential is taken into consideration, the district has several attractive destinations including Kapilas and Saptasjya.
Dhenkanal town being the district headquarters, all the important offices are located here. Every day thousands of people from Jajpur, Keonjhar, Angul and Cuttack visit this town. So the lack of a proper and modernised bus terminus is causing lots of problems to the commuters.
Realising the problems, the Odisha government had decided to set up a model bus stand in the town. Accordingly the plan for an ultra modern bus stand was laid out by Dhenkanal Regional Improvement Trust (DRIT). Five acre of land at Mahishapat was identified where it would be built.
However, before the project could take off, it hit a road block. It was learnt that the area identified is used by the district administration to host the annual ‘Pallishree Mela’ during Laxmi Puja. So, the search for a suitable place started again. Another five acre located in front of RTO office was selected. But later it was learnt that Reliance has got the land on lease basis.
So far, no alternative land has so far been found for the proposed bus stand. The tehsil department has informed the collector about the present situation of the project. The information has also been passed on to the OSRTC.
Amid all this, the existing bus stand is nothing short of a headache to the commuters due to lack of maintenance and facilities. The OSRTC officials have visited the bus stand to take stock of the situation. However, since then there has been no further progress.
When contacted, District Collector Bhumesh Chandra Behera said the concerned authority has been intimated to find out the present status of the land in front of the RTO office. We will decide our next step after receiving the report from OSRTC.
PWD Minister Prafulla Mallick meanwhile said a meeting will soon be convened between the OSRTC Secretary, other officials and the Collector to find out a solution for the proposed bus stand. “The OSRTC land close to National Highway-55 will be given priority. After getting to know about the lease status, the future course of action will be decided,” the minister said.
PNN
