While a virtual anarchy rules the roost, law and order problem looms large at the private bus stand here following the blatant flouting of the State Transport Authority (STA)-set ‘rationalized timing’ by some unscrupulous private bus operators in connivance with the local Regional Transport Officers (RTOs).
Such a messy state of affairs has resulted in bus time clashes, cut-throat competition among private bus owners, and instead plying of buses by making a hash of road safety norms at the cost of the passengers’ precious lives.
Amazingly, the police administration has also allegedly turned a blind eye to such malpractices despite having been sounded by some aggrieved private bus operators as well as sensible passengers and regular commuters umpteen times.
The veracity of such venal practices can be well ascertained in the wake of an office order, bearing No. 3024, dated March 11, 2015, issued by the Cuttack-based STA. The STA Secretary in his order pointed out, “It has come to the notice of this authority that the rationalised timing has not yet been practically implemented resulting in irrational and unsystematic plying of stage carriages on the Sundargarh-Rourkela route” and warned, “Steps will be taken for cancellation of permit under Section 86 of MV Act, 1988, if found plying violating the permit condition.”
Pertinent to note that the ‘rationalized timing’, in pursuance of the Supreme Court verdict, has been implemented by the STA (vide its Office Order No. 1257/TC Dtd: January 30, 2013) and duly communicated to the RTOs of Sundargarh, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Bargarh as well as the respective Private Bus Owners Associations of the districts.
Also it needs to be mentioned that the owners of the private buses in consultation with each other had prepared the ‘rationalized timing’ and submitted it with the Collector, Sundargarh which was later accorded a seal of approval by the State Transport Commissioner. However, it is observed that many bus operators who had earlier a gap of 20 or 30 minutes departure timing are not abiding by the ‘rationalised timing’ to the utter discomfiture of other law-abiding operators.
While the attention of the Sundargarh RTO has already been drawn by a score of law-abiding bus operators on last April 4 followed by knocking of the grievance cell doors of the district Collector on April 6, it is all but to no avail. Sources informed that the STA Commissioner-cum-Chairman has also been apprised of the ‘non-compliance of the rationalized timing’ on April 7. Reliable sources also confided that even though the local RTO is only authorised to renew permit and unauthorised to issue bus timing permit against the STA-set rationalized timing, clandestine practices are rampant.
“Such an audacious defiance by the bus operators is putting the precious lives of the passengers at a stake as the time-clash causes cut throat competition, callous and rash plying of the buses all along the busy as well as arterial State highway linking Sambalpur and Rourkela via Jharsuguda and Sundargarh”, fumed former Indian Railway Service (IRS) bureaucrat Santosh Amat, who is also a local resident and had been a regular commuter having enjoyed safe and sound journeys earlier to Rourkela and Jharsuguda.
Reacting sharply to such a myopic money-minting mentality of the wanton bus operators and also the lackadaisical attitudes of the law enforcement agencies here, Supreme Court lawyer Pratap Sahani (a resident of this town) said he would file a PIl against the practice.