Bhubaneswar, May 8: The municipal corporation has requested city bus operators to extend the service to Gadakana, where the proposed modern abattoir would come up.

Additional commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Brundha D has written a letter to Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited, the official operator of the city bus services in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda, to extend the service to Gadakana.

The new bus service would help local residents, as well as those who would visit the area after the abattoir is set up.

An official of the bus service provider said they had received the letter and would take a decision on extension of the facility after discussing it with the private operator and other stakeholders.

However, an official of the private operator, the Dream Team Shahara (DTS), said they were yet to get any communication from the government side. "We haven't yet received any letter from the government or the official operator of the bus service," said DTS chief executive officer Sudhansu Jena.

Besides, the civic body has also written a letter to railway officials to repair the road that connects the city to the area. While majority of the roads in the area have been four-laned, the stretch from railway workshop administrative office to Netaji enclave falls within the railway's jurisdiction and needs immediate repair.

"We have written a letter to the railway chief general engineer to take immediate action to repair the road. We had asked them earlier to undertake the job as well, and again, we have written to them to get it done faster," said the additional commissioner.

On this, a railway official said they had started the repair job, which would be over shortly. "As the sewerage lines are laid on the stretch, the work is getting delayed. However, we'll finish it shortly," said a railway engineering staff member.

"The decision to extend the bus service was taken in a meeting held on February 4 under the police commissioner's chairmanship, after residents had staged protests opposing the abattoir move," said the additional commissioner.

After the Bhubaneswar Development Authority built a residential apartment in the locality, Gadakana is slowly coming into focus. Once the abattoir comes up here, a large number of people would start visiting the area.

All the roads in and around Gadakana have been developed except the patch that falls under the railway.

In another development, the bus operators today added a new route from Simeiguda to Dumduma to the existing 21 routes. Local MLA Priyadarshi Mishra and mayor Anant Narayan Jena launched it. Four buses would ply between these two routes. Over 20,000 people residing at Simeiguda and Chakeisiani would benefit by this service.