A city bus in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 3: City buses will not touch Master Canteen Square from 4pm to 11pm to avoid the traffic congestion during the pujas.

According to Sudhansu Jena, chief executive officer of Dream team Sahara, the private operator associated with city bus service, the decision would help manage traffic during the pujas. Several other decisions have been taken for better traffic management during the festival.

“City buses plying through routes such as Nandankanan- Airport, KIIT Square- Balakati, Niladribihar-Kalpana Square and Puri- Bhubaneswar will operate from Exhibition Ground instead of the bus terminal from Master Canteen Square. This enforcement will be in operation till 7 October,” he said.

Jena also said that Cuttack-Bhubaneswar city bus service would operate in the usual route. The problem of traffic congestion along Janpath has created problems for residents in the past three days. In the evening, travelling has become a nightmare for the commuters as it takes nearly half an hour to travel from Sriya Square to Master Canteen Square.

“For the past three days, the traffic congestion has become so problematic that we are opting for alternative roads, which also remain busy,” said Manoj Biswal, a local resident.

He also expressed satisfaction about the new plan, which would reduce traffic congestion to some extend. On the other hand traffic authorities have initiated a drive to get rid of the illegal parking on Janpath. As per traffic regulations for the pujas, parking is allowed only on one lane of the road. But during evening hour the parked vehicles occupy half the road.

On Saturday, the traffic department took stringent action against errant residents who parked their vehicles on the road. Some section of people has criticised this move of the traffic department. “How can the authorities take action without prior notice? They should deploy a person to dissuade people from parking on the road,” said Upendra Sethy another local resident.

However, police said that it is illegal to park the vehicles on the road and therefore no notification is required. “As far as the deployment of police is concerned, we have deployed a person to stop people from parking their vehicles on the road. But residents also need to cooperate with us regarding this matter,” said a senior police officer in the traffic department.