Puri: Private bus services between Bhubaneswar and the Holy City was restored at 3pm Tuesday at the behest of the district administrations of Puri and Khurda after a four-day hiatus.
Private bus services between the state capital and Puri was discontinued September 7 following disputes over arrival and departure schedule of the buses. The private bus owners’ associations of Puri and Bhubaneswar had been at loggerheads over the timings of the buses.
“As per a compromise formula, both the associations have been told to stick to their permitted timings. Soon a meeting chaired by the State Transport Commissioner will be held to prepare a fresh schedule for buses plying between Bhubaneswar and Puri,” said a source.
The private bus owners’ association of Bhubaneswar had forcibly detained several buses of Puri-based owners at Baramunda bus stand in the Capital city September 7. Likewise, the bus owners’ association of Puri had also detained several buses from Bhubaneswar. However, the district administrations of Puri and Khurda did not take any prompt action to settle the dispute.
However, both the administrations swung into action and tried to broker a peace between the two sparring associations after bus owners in Bhubaneswar threatened to disrupt private bus services between Cuttack and Puri.
Puri regional transport officer (RTO) Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, City deputy superintendent of police Prasanta Kumar Patnaik and traffic inspector Bamdeb Swain held discussions with the bus owners of Puri. Similarly, Bhubaneswar RTO reached out to the bus owners of the Capital to settle the dispute.
It is learnt that the bus owners of Puri sought immediate opening of a police outpost at Kalpana Square in Bhubaneswar for smooth movement of passenger vehicles. They also asked the authorities to take action against those who had detained several buses at Baramunda and finalise fresh timings for the buses.
“A high-level meeting will be convened soon to finalise timings of buses afresh,” said Puri private bus owners’ association secretary Lokanath Pani.
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