Bhubaneswar, Feb. 6: Passengers suffer as 12 city buses with a seating capacity of 30 each have been gathering dust at Pokhariput terminal for the past one year.

Each of the vehicles had been procured at a cost of Rs 12 lakh. Sources said the buses' condition deteriorated after the vehicles had been kept idle at the terminal for a long time.

Officials of the Dream Team Shahara, the private operator of city bus service, said the defunct buses had been damaged due to sea wind while these were plying in Puri. "The body of these vehicles are made of tin. So, the vehicles were vulnerable for corrosion due to sea wind. The vehicles used to be parked near the sea during night hours," said an official.

Sources said the vehicles were also not entitled to get insurance cover as those had been damaged due to lack of maintenance. "We have made several correspondences to Bhubaneswar Puri Transport Service Limited to repair the vehicles," he said.

The transport body was formed with stakeholders from various government agencies, including the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the transport department, to manage the service, which had been flagged off in 2010.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, who is also chairman of the transport body, also said the buses were damaged due to erosion by sea wind in Puri. "We have written to the housing and urban development department to release special funds to repair the vehicles," he said.

Odisha Youth Congress president Rajat Choudhury, however, blamed the state government for showing undue favour towards the private operator. "The buses are procured with public money, and the government do not have any right to keep the vehicles idle and cause loss to the exchequer. The vehicles should be repaired at the earliest possible," said Choudhury.

At present, 165 city buses are plying on 22 routes in Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack and Khurda and Jatni. The fleet of buses also include 12 air-conditioned vehicles, which have in-built closed-circuit cameras. While as many as 11 busses are plying within Puri, 13 are playing between Bhubaneswar and Puri. Similarly, 30 buses are plying between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and the rest within Bhubaneswar.