Construction of a new bus terminal on the outskirts of the town has become a distant dream for the denizens of Baleswar. Although 10 long years lapsed ever since foundation stone was laid and the Balasore Regional Improvement Trust (BRIT) was entrusted with the job, yet no tangible result was seen.
The decision is taken by the district administration to shift the bus stand from the current Sahadevkhunta location outside the town in view of growing number of buses to the place at a time when there is no further scope of expansion of the stand due to space crunch.
For the new bus stand, a patch of 8 acres of land was identified near Januganj golai in Remuna and foundation stone for the project was laid by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on January 14, 2010.
The BRIT while acquired the patch in Rs 5.8 crore, yet it couldn’t proceed further due to paucity of fund.
In the meanwhile , even after a lapse of 10 long years, no progress is made. The patch of land has become a dumping ground and a few handful of people are carrying out their trades of sand, cement and bricks from the open patch, as it is open and unutilised.
Sources said from the BRIT, a proposal for Rs 11 crore expenditure for construction of the stand was given to the State Government and was approved too. For construction, drawing ,design and soil test too were conducted in the past. However, due to paucity of fund, the construction work couldn’t proceed.
Further, the proposal for construction was modified and as per new agreement, the expenditure would be borne at a ratio 80 and 20 by the State Government and BRIT respectively.
The State Government in first phase has released Rs 2 crore and placed with Works Department for construction.
Despite availability of fund, the work while couldn’t begin. In the meanwhile, the Chairman tenure is over and currently the district Collector is heading it.
The secretary of the BRIT couldn’t give any satisfactory reply for the delay.
As many as over 200 buses from the current venue at Sahadevkhunta while operate and ply to different destinations, congestion of buses and commuters has become a cause of concern. The residents expressing displeasure over the delay blame the apathetic attitude of the district administration for non execution of the much hyped important project of the district.