Smart City plans will be implemented by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be set up for each identified city to enable a focused effort for effective implementation. As the prime objective of the Smart City mission is to enhance quality of urban life, Bhubaneswar shall have the core infrastructure to provide a quality and decent life to citizens. In this context, a Transport Nagar or logistic Park will enable a clean environment and provide smart solutions to the problems of Bhubaneswar.
Bhubaneswar can accommodate a large section of slum dwellers in the residential zone of the logistic Park through construction of rehabilitation and settlement apartments for the transport labourers, most of whom are dwelling in slums. The Park can organise in the manner to have zero impact on the civic life despite high production in the industrial units.
The transporters expect Transport Nagar or logistic Park to find place in the on-going Smart City plan. Our people feel ashamed outside the State as we don’t have Transport Nagar in the capital city. Even we don’t have truck terminals at different cities and towns of our State.
Transport Nagars are there in all major cities except in Odisha. Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, Ghaziabad/New Delhi and Transport Nagars at Kanpur, Nagpur, Raipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Vijaynagaram are the few well known Transport Nagars of our country. Although Odisha is a major player in Road Transport Industry, our State capital doesn’t have a Transport Nagar.
Transport Nagar accommodates the offices and godowns of the transporters, workshops of the vehicle manufacturers and other garages, spare parts shops, diesel pumps, weigh bridges, banks and ATMs, dormitory, laundry, saloons, health centres, 24x7 ambulance service, security and police outpost, multiplex, multispecialtyclinics, trauma care centre, driving training centre, hotel, dhaba and restaurants etc.
Our proposed Biju Patnaik Transport Nagar at Bhubaneswar can be established either in PPP mode or through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The City Police have imposed restriction on entry of heavy vehicles to the city limits beginning from 8 am to 10 pm for which the business of transporters has been hampered and these vehicles are forced to park the loaded trucks on NH-5 side. The situation not only creates congestion of the highway but also wastes 14 hours of valuable time of the stranded truckers.
Sub-urban Bhubaneswar today suffers from the congestion caused due to road side parking of trucks coming to Bhubaneswar from outside the State beginning from 8 am to 10 pm in the night, due to police restrictions to enter into the city.
Huge amount of man power engaged in loading and unloading, trolley men, transport staff, small and medium truck drivers and helpers suffer from huge financial loss. Thousands of youths, who got engaged in transport profession by availing vehicle finance from banks, fail to repay bank instalments, as the lorry movement period is restricted.
Transport Nagar can accommodate all the heavy vehicles helping the National Highways free from congestion. The theft of goods loaded in the trucks can be ruled out and valuables in the truck remain protected, if parked inside Transport Nagar.
The small and permissible trucks, which can enter into the city limits, can transport goods from Transport Nagar to market points for the convenience of the transporters and general public. There shall be no detention of the vehicles.
Traffic, law and order position of the city can be furthered and regulated, if the interstate trucks are parked in the logistic Park. There can be documentation on the trucks and the revenue earnings of the State as well as BMC can be enhanced without any leakage.
The quality of life of the citizenry can be made elegant, easy and comfortable, if there will be no loaded heavy vehicles on the city roads and warehouses are shifted to the logistic Park.
We strongly believe that inclusion of logistic Park in our Smart City Plan will certainly place Bhubaneswar in the list of top 20 cities to be supported from the current year.
(The writer is president, Bhubaneswar Goods Transport Association)