Berhampur Municipal Corporation mulls city bus service

By Sunil Patnaik (The Telegraph)

BERHAMPUR: After Cuttack, it could well be Berhampur’s turn. The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to run a bus service in the Silk City. “We have a proposal to run city buses in Berhampur. We will prepare a feasibility report on the various aspects of the city bus service and submit the proposal to the urban development department of the state government for approval," BMC commissioner Bhim Manseth said. “Before the city became a corporation, the Berhampur municipality had introduced town bus service. But the service was withdrawn a few years later as it incurred huge losses. Now the city has grown and we have a corporation in place. We are studying the requirements of the city transport service and identifying sustainable bus routes.” the commissioner said. “City buses are being run in a planned way in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. We will ensure that the new service did not run into losses,” he added. An engineer of the BMC mechanical section, however, said the condition of roads in Berhampur was not suitable to run buses. These buses could ply on National Highway number 217, which runs through the Silk City. “As road construction work is in progress in the city, it will not be feasible to run buses in large numbers. The scenario may change in the future,” he said. Besides, the official pointed out that the city bus service in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack was being operationalised under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban and Rural Mission (JNNURM) with financial assistance of central and state governments. The central government is interested to run buses in cities with a population of more than 2 lakh. The urban development department of the state government has already sent a letter to the corporation to submit a feasibility report in this regard. Residents of Berhampur have also rued the lack of a city bus service. They have been clamouring for the introduction of a public transport system.

Govind Pradhan, Gajapati Nagar resident and a salesman at a shop on Aska Road, said: “Drivers of autorickshaws and cycle rickshaws charge arbitrarily, making it increasingly difficult for commuters to avail these modes of transport. When other cities in the state have introduced bus services, why cannot Berhampur have one?” Godavarish Nagar resident Mina Kumari Patnaik said the proposed service should run up to the tourist hub of Gopalpur-on-sea. A teacher at the Nodal UP School, Gopalpur, Patnaik said: “Mini matador buses and trekkers are the only means of transport between Berhampur and Gopalpur. As several foreign and domestic tourists visit Gopalpur-on-sea, the BMC must take extra care to ply city buses on the route. This would benefit tourists as well as daily passengers from Berhampur to Gopalpur,” she said. The service would also benefit hundreds of office-goers, students and other commuters.