Cuttack, April 18: Ever since chief minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the city bus service in Bhubaneswar in October 2010, the non-inclusion of Cuttack in one of the routes has angered residents of the Millennium City.

There was a lot of hype surrounding the bus service. It was touted as the first attempt to put in place an organised modern public transport system in Bhubaneswar. However, people in Cuttack feel left out.

“As it is, there is lack of adequate bus service within the city limits. And now, the city bus service has not been extended to Cuttack. We are the ones who have to suffer because of this,” said an angry resident requesting anonymity.

Dramatist Kartik Rath was even more vocal in his outrage. “There can be no rationale for terminating the bus service at Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation limits at Phulnakhara when Cuttack and Bhubaneswar have been declared as twin cities,” said Rath.

The Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Corporation Limited (BPTSCL) had entered into a MoU with a private city bus operator — Dream Team Sahara — for operating the bus service. As per the MoU, the operator was entrusted with the responsibility of operating 50 standard buses and 50 mini buses on six routes. One of the routes was from Nuagaon to Phulnakhara.

“If the bus service is extended beyond Phulnakhara to run inside Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) limits, the need for town bus service in the city can be solved. Besides, commuters in both Cuttack and Bhubaneswar will benefit from this,” said Gopal Krushna Mohanty, a lawyer.

“The bus service would be of great help to students who study in colleges and institutes on the suburbs of the city. Now, we have to travel about five to eight kilometres in autorickshaws to catch a bus to reach our respective institutions and undergo the same ordeal to return home,” said Subhada Das, a college student.

People in Markatnagar have to change two autorickshaws or buses to catch a bus to Bhubaneswar from Badambadi. “Extending the bus service along the Kathajodi Ring Road to Markatnagar will make travelling to Bhubaneswar easier for residents of the satellite township being developed by Cuttack Development Authority (CDA),” said entrepreneur Guru Prasad Das.

Political leaders cutting across party lines and members of the high court Bar had also demanded the inclusion of Cuttack in the city bus service.

“Cuttack and Bhubaneswar have been declared as twin cities. When the bus service was introduced, I had immediately raised a demand before the government for extending it along the NH-5 to Jagatpur en route OMP Square,” said Debashis Samantaray, MLA, Barabati, Cuttack.

Former Cuttack MLA Samir Dey said: “The city bus service should run between BMC and CMC areas to make the twin city concept a reality.”

“There should be a unified budgetary allocation for infrastructure development in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to promote them as twin cities instead of restricting it just to pen and paper,” Dey added.

On October 31, 2010, citizens under the banner of Cuttack Banchao Committee had staged a protest at the Ambedkar statue near the high court by wearing black badges. They had demanded extending of the Bhubaneswar bus service till OMP Square.

“It’s a legitimate demand of the people of Cuttack. And the high court has endorsed it by issuing orders for extending the bus service to Cuttack,” said Annada Prasad Ray, noted litterateur and president of Cuttack Banchao Committee.

The high court had on April 16 set May 1 as fresh deadline for the government to ensure plying of buses by extending the city bus service to Cuttack. The high court had taken it up as a PIL after members of the Bar brought to its notice about the termination of the city bus service at BMC limits at Phulnakhara.

“The court order has only vindicated the growing feeling among the people that Cuttack has been grossly neglected by the government,” said Congress leader Suresh Mohapatra.

Mohapatra’s observation is not without reason. In fact, the two-judge high court bench of justice B.P. Das and justice M.M. Das had said in its order: “Considering the plight of commuters on account of lack of adequate town bus service in Cuttack and the apathetic attitude of the state government towards the commuters of the city even after several years of declaration of this city as a twin city along with Bhubaneswar, we direct the secretary, transport department, as well as secretary, housing and urban development department, to take steps for providing at least 15 buses for plying as town buses in Cuttack.”

On January 13, 2011, the state government had contended before the court that “the city bus service provided to Bhubaneswart-Puri under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban and Rural Development (JNNURM) scheme cannot be extended to Cuttack as the said scheme is applicable only to Bhubaneswar and Puri”.

The high court, however, had observed: “We are not concerned whether the JNNURM scheme introduced for Bhubaneswar-Puri will be applicable to Cuttack or not. This court has in the past passed orders directing the state government for providing adequate number of town buses to the city but the same is yet to be complied with.”

The court had on that day ordered for plying of 15 buses to Cuttack by March 31, 2011. As things stand today, the state government had on April 16 sought two months to comply with the order. But the court has fixed May 1 as deadline for it.

Mayor Saumendra Ghosh is hopeful that the bus service will be extended to Cuttack soon. “After discussing with the Bhubaneswar mayor, I have submitted a chart of five routes to the transport department for bus service to Cuttack. It is under consideration,” he said.