In a bid to connect towns of Baleswar and Bhadrak and their suburbs, the State Government has decided to start city bus services under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) soon.
To chalk out modalities for implementation of bus services, a meeting was held here in which concerned officials of the two districts attended.
It was decided that the city buses would run by August-end to Nilgiri, Soro and Basudevpur from Baleswar and Bhadrak and within Baleswar and Bhadrak towns. A total of 32 buses would run on the roads of the two districts.
While the project cost would be borne by the Central Government, bus services would be executed in PPP mode.
There have been demands for city bus services from various quarters as the town has neither share taxi facility nor adequate number of buses for use of daily commuters although some private operators have engaged buses for the purpose.
These buses are expected to be very beneficial for visitors of the Remuna Gopinath Temple, Nilgiri, Panchalingeswar, Chandipur and Eram Basudevpur. The buses would be available at regular intervals and fare cost would be much less than hired taxis.
“We are expecting to receive 32 buses under the JNNURM scheme by end of this month. Discussions were held to fix modalities of bus operations and parking spaces. We are in touch with some agencies to execute the project. The parking place has been identified near Remuna Golai where a vast patch of Government land is available,” Baleswar Regional Transport Officer Amresh Patra.