There is no direct bus service from Cuttack to Athagarh, for which passengers travelling to and from Cuttack by long-route buses are being harassed by the bus staff at the Badambadi Bus Stand in Cuttack every day.
All the Athagarh passengers are not allowed to board the buses from Badambadi unless the bus has a large number of passengers for Badamba and Narasinghpur. If any Athagarh passenger asks for a seat in a bus, he is being humiliated, harassed and even assaulted by the unruly hawkers appointed by the bus owners.
Women, senior citizens, patients and children have to stand in overloaded buses coming to Athagarh. The Government had planned to run City Buses to Athagarh and Banki Subdivisions headquarters from Cuttack under the Amruta Yojna two years back. But Athagarh was deprived of City Buses services as the Athagarh MLA interfered in the matter under the pressure of the bus owners’ association to shelve the programme.
Meanwhile, different organisations of Athagarh had submitted a memorandum in this regard to the authorities, but due to the alleged interference of the local MLA it was not taken into consideration. Athagarh Press Club members taking the matter seriously have been sitting in dharna from September 7 before the Sub-Collectorate demanding running of City Buses to Athagarh.
But as the administration turned a deaf ear to the demand, a joint forum of local BJP, Congress members, lawyers and intelligentsia have submitted a memorandum addressed to the Cuttack district Collector through Sub-Collector Amiya Kumar Sahoo on Tuesday to run City Buses, failing which they would take to the streets.