After a year of dispute, the newly constructed bus stand came to use on Tuesday here, when civil administration armed with police force stopped the use of the old bus stand in the heart of the headquarters town and directed passengers, bus and trekker owners to shift to the new bus stand at Jogadhari Danda.
It came as a relief to the passengers who get down at Jagatsinghpur town, as the passenger carriers would now halt at Thana Chhak in front of Biju Pattnaik statue for dropping and picking up passengers for a few minutes before moving to the new bus stand.
Under no circumstance would the old bus stand be used and transport operators and general public have been asked to follow the instruction, informed Jagatsinghpur sub collector Braja B Bhola.
However, the trekker operators protested the administration’s move. Hundreds of trekker owners accompanied by drivers and helpers began an indefinite dharana inside the old bus stand despite presence of police.
Jagatsinghpur municipality authority captured the entire land of old bus stand and started construction of fencing of boundary wall. A platoon of police force was deployed to avoid any untoward incident.
Reports said that taking stock of traffic congestion and rapid growth of several road mishaps in past years, the civil administration and Jagatsinghpur municipality had decided to shift the bus stand to Jogadhari Danda two years ago.
The municipality had constructed the new bus stand spending about `74 lakh. State RD Minister Bikram Arukha had inaugurated the new bus stand on December 2, 2012 but interestingly, the new bus stand was lying idle after owing several reasons. The private bus owner association and trekker operators were opposing the relocation of the bus stand, citing business loss.
Trekker owners’ association president Ratnakar Biswal lamented that the shifting of the bus stand would result in business loss of the trekker operators. However, private bus owners’ association president Kailash Chandra Sahoo informed that the bus operators had no option but to oblige.
The new bus stand needs civic amenities, hotels and shops. In absence of these facilities, the passengers would suffer a lot, informed Manoj lenka, a passenger.