Berhampur city bus service to be completed by June

The city bus service for greater Berhampur will be completed in June with 31 buses running under the project. This was declared during a high level meeting held in the city on Monday to discuss the city bus service for greater Berhampur, which had been inaugurated on February 26. The meeting chaired by Ganjam district collector Prem Chand Choudhary was attended by chairman cum managing director of Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) Manoj Kumar Chabra, senior officials who are part of the Ganjam Urban Transport Services Limited (GUTSL).

The GUTSL has entered into an agreement with the OSRTC for running of the city bus service for greater Berhampur. At present 16 buses meant for this service have reached and 12 of them are running on various routes. With inclusion of new buses total number of buses of this city bus service would be increased to 31 by June, said the authorities of the GUTSL.

Mr. Chabra said due to restrictions imposed because of imposition of election code of conduct, new appointments of drivers and conductors could not be made.

Replying to a question regarding allegation of passengers that the fare of city buses was higher than private operators, the collector said this issue would be resolved during the next meeting of the GUTSL on May 27. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GUTSL Ajit Mishra informed that several new routes have been proposed. This city bus service was proposed to run buses on routes inside Berhampur and three other routes connecting Berhampur with Chatrapur, Gopalpur and Hinjli. Running of city buses inside the city has also faced hiccups as private autorickshaw operators continue to oppose the service. This issue would also be discussed in the next meeting of the GUTSL. Source: The Hindu