Bhubaneswar: The Capital Region Urban Transport, the newly formed entity to look after the city bus services in Bhubaneswar and its neighbouring region, will take over possession of 40 buses presently lying idle in various parts of the state.
Permission for this has been granted by the state housing and urban development department, which has asked officials to take over possession of buses, which are lying idle in Cuttack and Balasore for various administrative reasons. The new buses will be added to the new fleet in the city.
Sources said 30 non-AC smaller buses were lying idle in Cuttack, while 10 non-AC standard buses were in similar condition in Balasore.
"The buses are lying idle because of reasons, including the non-receipt of permit to run them among others. The transport body will take over possession of the buses, most of which remain in a good condition and will add the same into the fleet of buses to run in the capital region," said an urban development department official.
Officials say that after taking possession, the buses will be added to the tender package of the city bus modernisation plan of Bhubaneswar. "There are already plans to increase the fleet of buses to 300 from the present 100 by September. However, these idle buses will not be a part of it," he said.
The official said these buses would be added to the fleet in the second phase. "We have placed the order for procurement of 200 new buses, but we will be in need of more in later stage. These 40 buses will be included in the second lot," he said. Under the city bus modernisation plan, the state government has planned get 50 standard air-conditioned buses, 50 standard non-AC buses and 100 midi buses in the first phase to be completed by September. Two new bus depots for their halt will also be developed in this phase.
In the second phase, the government has planned to include electric buses as part of the e-mobility plan. This phase will be completed by the end of 2019. In the third phase, the city outskirts will be brought under the bus network, which will be completed by 2020. In the final phase, 400 buses will be added by 2025.
