A whopping number of 1,122 passenger buses were running without fitness certificate and permit in the State between January 2015 and April 30, 2016.
In response to a question of BJD MlA Amar Prasad Satpathy, Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi informed this in the Assembly on Saturday.
While the highest 621 buses were plying in the Puri region, 110 were running each in the Cuttack and Deogarh areas. Similarly, 47 buses were running in Balangir, 44 in Angul, 32 in Bargarh, 29 in Bhadrak, 22 in Jharsuguda, 18 in Ganjam, 14 in Chandikhole, 10 in Bhubaneswar, nine in Balewar, eight in Talcher, seven each in Dhenkanal and Rayagada, six each in Subarnapur, Jagatsinghpur and Kalahandi, four in Nayagarh, two each in Bhanjanagar, Bhubaneswar-II, Sundargarh, Phulbani and Nabarangpur and one each was running in Koraput and Gajapti district.
Regions like Kendrapada, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj had no such buses. Transport officials are regularly inspecting passenger buses and collecting penalties from them, the Minister said.
In response to a related question of Congress MlA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, the Minister said any vehicle, which is fit to run and have a fitness certificate, can run on the road, irrespective of its oldness. He, however, informed that though the Union Government fixes the running period of different kinds of vehicles, it is yet to do this.