Bus service hit between Odisha and Jharkhand due to LS polls
BHUBANESWAR: Passengers are facing a tough time as several buses between Odisha and Jharkhand have stopped plying due to elections in the neighbouring State. Voting will be held in Jharkhand on April 29, May 6, 12 and 19. Of the 10 buses that operate from Bhubaneswar to Ranchi and Jameshedpur, eight have been engaged in poll duty.
“Several buses plying between Bhubaneswar and Jamshedpur and between the City and Ranchi are being utilised for election duty in Jharkhand. A few other bus owners have stopped operations as they are apprehensive that their vehicles might also be engaged in the neighbouring State during polls,” Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association spokesperson Debashis Nayak said.
The residents of Rourkela are facing a harrowing time with bus operations being scrapped temporarily between the city and the neighbouring States of Jharkhand and Bihar. Sources said owners of many buses, which operate from Rourkela to Jharkhand and Bihar, have provided their vehicles for poll duty. “My family members had planned a visit to Gaya around two days back. However, as bus operations have been suspended and there are no direct trains from Rourkela to Bihar, they faced a lot of difficulty,” said Neeraj Thakur, a local.
Meanwhile, secretary of Sundargarh Motor Karmachari Sangh Akhay Mahanta said, “Bus operations were suspended a few days back but some vehicles resumed operations between Rourkela and Jharkhand recently.”