A family waits for a bus back to Orissa. (Aranya Sen)

Calcutta, June 21: Sixteen buses left Calcutta for Puri this evening to bring back tourists stuck there because the rail link has been snapped by rain.

The buses, however, did not go empty. Around 60 people from Orissa who were stranded in Calcutta took the Calcutta State Transport Corporation buses from Salt Lake Stadium.

“We had arranged 33 buses but sent only 16 because we learnt that there might not be a need for so many right away,” CSTC managing director S.N. Pal said.

“The other buses are on standby and would leave for Puri if the situation demands. A clearer picture should emerge by tomorrow,” he added.

Sambit Kundu, 34, a bank employee in Cuttack, was among the first to board a bus today. “I had come on leave to my house in New Barrackpore and was supposed to join office yesterday,” he said.

Businessman Abhishek Shaw from Bhadrak had to extend his stay in Calcutta by two days because his train was cancelled. “My wife and son have never been alone this long, but even Calcutta-Bhubaneswar flight tickets were hard to come by.”

Under normal circumstances, it takes 10 to 12 hours to reach Puri by road. On the rain-ravaged roads, it will take around 16 to 18 hours, said Pal.

The buses shall go via Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Naveen Acharya, 28, an engineer employed with a software firm in Bhubaneswar, will not miss a workday. “Any time tomorrow is good for me. I’m supposed to join work on Monday,” he said.

Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty had yesterday said that around 5,000 tourists were stranded in the beach town. But sources said most of them had made alternative arrangements by the time the government announced its plans. A Puri-Calcutta ticket on one of the special buses will cost Rs 225.