Greater Berhampur to get city bus service by September 30

City bus services will start in Berhampur September 30. This was informed by Berhampur Municipal Commissioner Ajit Mishra at a meeting held in Berhampur on Thursday.

He said the State Government has released `5 crore to purchase buses which will play between Berhampur and Gopalpur, Berhampur and Chatrapur and Berhampur and Hinjili.

These buses will be operated by Ganjam Urban Transport Service Ltd whose Chairman is Ganjam Collector. The company has been floated by the BMC. Officials like BMC Commissioner, RTO, SDPO and BDA Secretary will function as the company’s directors.

On each of the three routes, eight buses would play at 10 to 12 minutes interval and the bus service would be operated on PPP mode.

This meeting, held on the premises of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) office premises, was attended by chairperson of the Behampur Development Authority (BDA) Kailash Rana, secretary of the BDA Manoj Padhi, city mayor S.S.Dash, BMC commissioner Ajit Mishra, Regional Transport Officer (RTO), Berhampur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) and the representatives of transporters involved in plying small passenger vehicles between Berhampur and places on its periphery.

The transporters expressed their fear that starting a city bus service would end their income source. The authorities told them that city bus service was extremely important for the development of Berhampur city and its periphery and it cannot be stopped.

Sources: The Hindu, The New Indian Express & The Sambad