Koraput: The administration has decided to build 150 modern rest sheds across the district for bus passengers.
The rest sheds will be built along the national highways 26 and 326 passing through the district bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and will cover all panchayat headquarters and important bus stops along the twin highways.
Officials said that though earlier there were bus sheds at various locations, most of them had been either lying damaged or demolished with expansion of roads and owing to the lack of maintenance.
"The modern rest shed will be built of steel. The rest sheds design has been adopted from the sheds developed in cities," said Koraput collector K. Sudarshan Chakravarthy.
Each of the rest sheds will be built at a budget of Rs 4.10 lakh, and the district administration will bear the entire funds from the state finance commission.
According to officials, around 30 rest sheds are at various stages of completion, and work for the remaining will start shortly.
Also, the administration is contemplating to provide advertising space at the rest sheds once it is completed, so that revenue collected from it could be used in cleaning and maintaining the facilities.
"We are hopeful to complete the work of all the 150 rest sheds in next couple of months. Then in the next phase, rest sheds will be built for passengers along those roads, which are managed by the public works department in the district," the collector said.
"Important telephone numbers such as that of police, fire, ambulance, hospital and district's helpline numbers will be written on the rest sheds, so that at the time of emergency, people can use it," he said.
Local people have hailed the administration's decision.
"Without any rest shed, it was difficult to wait bus at the bus stops. People are forced to depend on the verandah of shops or at times have to stand beneath trees. And in rains, passengers face much problem without any rest shed. Hence, it's a welcome move by the administration," said Koraput resident Sanjit Patnaik.
