SAMBALPUR: As many as 11 city buses, which were lying idle for nearly two years, will hit the roads soon. Chief Executive Officer of Western Odisha Urban Transport Services Limited (WOUTSL), the apex body of city bus service in Sambalpur, Lingaraj Panda has instructed the Regional Transport Office (RTO) authorities to prepare a new route plan for the idle vehicles.
Panda, who is also the Commissioner of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, said, “The RTO has been asked to propose a route plan for the buses. On the basis of the feasibility of route map, we will consult with police and other authorities concerned and take steps for making the buses operational.”The city bus service was introduced in Sambalpur in 2014 on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Paschim Odisha Paribahan Company (POPCO) entered into a partnership with the State Government to run and manage the service. Since then, the city buses have been a largely preferred mode of travel for the locals.
After getting a positive response from the public in the first few years, the managing body decided to expand the services further and subsequently in August 2017, around 12 new buses were procured.
These new buses were flagged off by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in September, 2017. However, the buses could not be made operational as POPCO failed to get permit for other routes due to various reasons.
The tentative routes on which POPCO had proposed to run the new buses were Sambalpur-Sonepur, Sambalpur-Barpali, Sambalpur-Kuchinda, Sambalpur-Brajarajnagar, Sambalpur -Sundargarh and Sambalpur -Belpahar. This year, one of the new buses was made operational on Sambalpur-Kuchinda route in August after POPCO availed the permit.
Currently, 32 buses are operating on 12 inter-city and intra-city routes. Sources said nearly 7,000 people commute in the buses on a daily basis.Chief Executive Officer of POPCO Bipin Bhatia said, “We are hopeful that the routes will be finalised by early next year. We can proceed further once the RTO authorities prepare the route plan as instructed by the district administration.”