Transport minister Tukuni Sahu drops hints about resumption of bus services on Saturday
Private bus owners operate 14k bus in state as against 1k by state govt
By Sukanta Kumar Mohanty
BHUBANESWAR, OCT. 20: A ray of hope about resumption of private bus services in Odisha emerged on Friday evening after state transport minister Tukuni Sahoo told reporters that her talks with Odisha Private Bus Owners Association (OSPBOA) had concluded with a positive note.
However, there was no immediate announcement from the side of the private bus owners. Debendra Sahoo, the secretary of OSPBOA, said he would inform about the association’s decision after consulting the district units.
“I talked to OSPBOA office-bearers this evening and they have agreed to resume the bus services. I have communicated to the Chief Minister’s Office about the demands of the agitating bus owners. Further talks with the OSPBOA will be held on October 26,” said the transport minister Ms Sahoo.
Thousands of passengers were on Friday stranded in numerous bus stands across Odisha as the state’s private bus owners went for an indefinite strike following collapse of their talks with the top officials of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) with regard to fulfillment of their certain demands.
At Baramunda bus stand in state’s capital city Bhubaneswar, passengers faced harrowing times as they did not get buses to travel to their respective destinations. Many people were found scrambling at the government bus ticket counters to book tickets. However, the limited number of government buses failed to accommodate the passenger rush.
The Odisha Private Bus Owners’s Association (OPBOA) has resorted to strike in protest against the state government’s decision to run its own buses from block headquarters to district headquarters under the Location-Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) programme.
Mamata Madhi, a student waiting to board a bus to Malkangiri, said only the passengers with online tickets were allowed to get in the buses while others didn’t have that privilege.
“I had booked my ticket in a private bus. As the private buses are now off the roads, I’m desperately trying to get a ticket in a government bus. However, I find that the government booking counters here have closed now. We are not informed why the ticket counters have shut down,” said Divanshu Mahant, a student who was waiting to catch his bus to Rairangpur in North Odisha.
As per the OPBOA secretary Debendra Sahoo, it was earlier agreed that LAccMi buses will run from gram panchayat headquarters to block headquarters. However, the state government backed out from its promise and operated buses to block headquarters, thus causing serious losses to the private bus owners.
