A much hyped bus terminal at a new site in Baleswar has missed the deadline although six years have passed since the foundation stone was laid.
Initially, there was a plan that the terminal would be constructed by the Balasore Regional Improvement Trust (BRIT) with an estimated budget of Rs 11 crore.
Although the BRIT had got the possession of the land on lease at a cost of over Rs 5.4 crore from the Revenue department and constructed a boundary wall at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, yet it couldn’t move further due to paucity of fund. The project, subsequently, was handed over to the Works department.
“We took possession of the patch of land from the Revenue department on lease and constructed a boundary wall too spending about Rs 10 lakh, yet we couldn’t proceed further because of financial crunch. In the meantime, the Government entrusted the construction job to the Works department,” said BRIT chairman Gouri Rout.
“After base construction of the bus terminal the ancillary works would be done by us (BRIT),” he said.
“The project came to us about six months ago. The designing is completed and the drawing is pending for approval of the chief architect. After approval, a fresh budget would be prepared,” said R&B, Baleswar division Executive Engineer Achuyta Das.
Since the present bus stand encounters shortage of space to accommodate buses and passengers, a proposal was drawn up to move the terminal to the outskirts of the town. Accordingly, a patch of land measuring around 8 acres under Ganeswarpur mouza was identified.
It was decided that the terminal would not only cater to the need of buses plying for inter district, it would also accommodate the town buses plying within town jurisdictions. The foundation stone for the bus terminus in the outskirts of town, near Januganj Golai, Remuna was laid initially in the month of January 2010 by the Chief Minister during his visit to the district.
The terminal while would be constructed over an area of 8 acres of land, the infrastructure would be built to accommodate around 140 buses, apart from extending several other modern facilities. It would provide facilities such as loading , unloading points, canteens , refreshment centres and multi storied passenger rest rooms etc. The distance between new and existing bus stand while is around 5 km ,the district administration has a plan of plying share taxis and mini buses for better connectivity between them and the town.
“The old bus stand has been convenient for us since it is located in the mid of the expanding town. However, the new one in the current site would cater to the need for more number of buses. We would be seeking an effective connectivity between these two bus stands,” said a functionary of the local bus association.