Bhubaneswar, July 21: The state urban development department has decided to run city buses to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, from August on an experimental basis.

The city bus service, introduced under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is being managed by the urban development department.

“The city bus service to AIIMS is likely to start from the first week of August. But, we will also have to see if there is enough demand of passengers for the bus route. So, the service will be introduced on an experimental basis initially,” said special secretary of the department S.K. Ratho.

Sources in the department said that as many as four buses, which were plying between Master Canteen Square and Khurda at present, would touch the hospital in a loop. At present, 10 buses run on the route. A meeting was held in this regard last week.

On June 6, The Telegraph had carried a report on the plight of patients going to AIIMS in the absence of city bus service. The need of bus connection to the premier hospital arose after the introduction of out patient departments (OPDs) at the AIIMS on June 4.

Official records state that around 1,000 patients are visiting the hospital every week on an average. The number is likely to increase as the hospital authorities have also started around nine specialty clinics from July 8.

While the OPDs of various departments, including medicine, surgery, gynaecology, orthopaedic and dentistry, are functioning from 8.30am to 1pm, speciality clinics of chest and sleep are functioning from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

City residents and the hospital authorities have been demanding introduction of city bus service to the hospital, which is around 15km away from the city.

“The bus service covers all major hospitals in the city and its outskirts, except AIIMS. The service should be extended up to AIIMS as it is a super speciality hospital,” said Prasant Das, a city resident.

Lack of bus service to the hospital has forced the visitors spend more on autorickshaws. The nearest stoppage of the city bus service to the hospital is Aiginia Square, from where one has to go around three kilometres by an autorickshaw.

“ Sometimes, the autorickshaw drivers demand Rs 100 for such short distance,” said Rabi Narayan Dalai, who relative is undergoing treatment at AIIMS.

On the other hand, officials of Dream Team Sahara, the private bus operator of the city, have conducted a route survey of the hospital. The officials said though they were planning to introduce a separate route from Master Canteen Square and AIIMS, they have to study the feasibility of the bus service to the area.