Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday flagged off 30 more buses to four leftwing Extremism (lWE)-affected districts under the Biju Gaon Gadi Yojana (BGGY).
“Buses will start plying under Biju Gaon Gadi Yojana from today. These buses will run in remote areas of Nuapada, Deogarh, Sundargarh and Gajapati districts to provide better communication to people,” Patnaik said after cutting a red ribbon for the buses at OSTRC office.
These buses would run on 28 routes. OSRTC CMD Sanjib Marik said the routes are not commercially viable for which private operators are not keen to ply buses in these routes. The Government has launched the service to provide better transportation service in Maoist-affected districts,” he said.
Transport Minister Ramesh Majhi said 13 more buses would be procured and launched soon.
Notably, the state government had launched 57 buses earlier and the number increased to 87 with addition of the 30 buses.
According to sources, the Government had decided to launch 33 buses on these identified routes. However, 30 buses were introduced for the time being as three buses are yet to be procured.
Earlier, 40-seater buses have been introduced in Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Brahmapur, Koraput, Ganjam and Kandhamal districts under the scheme.