Buses parked on Link Road in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Aug. 29: Cuttack Municipal Corporation plans to come up with two major bus terminals to facilitate parking of the private buses at night hours along Link Road.

The civic body hopes that the proposed terminals will help out “easing congestion” caused by “illegal parking” of buses on Link Road that connects Badambadi bus terminus with NH-5 at Madhupatna.

“Two patches of land measuring around 10 acres have been identified for providing parking space to vehicles, which now occupy the major road of the city because of space crunch,” said a senior CMC official.

“Land for the project has been identified at Gopalpur and Khannagar along NH-5,” said the official.

“Parking of buses along Link Road is a long standing traffic problem. While 30 to 40 buses from different parts of the state are parked during idle hours on any given day, more than 10 off road buses without permit are also left parked along the busy thoroughfare,” said Krushna Chandra Samal, assistant commissioner of police (traffic).

“Moreover, around 130 buses are parked along Link Road at night,” said Samal. “Though several stretches of the Link Road had been declared no-parking zones, the problem has persisted owing to shortage of parking space,” he said.

Official sources said land identified for the proposed terminals belonged to Indian Railways. The corporation had already written a letter to the railway authorities for providing the land “for the purpose of public utility” as both were “lying unutilised”.

“The corporation proposes major traffic terminals to ease out congestion,” said the commissioner R.N. Nanda, while seeking “permissive possession” of both the patches of land “for development of parking zones”, in a recent letter to the general manager of the East Coast Railway.

The municipal commissioner said: “A vast stretch of railway land (over 10 acres) which exists at Gopalpur is quite isolated from the railway track and the same is unfit for utilisation because of its low-lying topography. As it is adjacent to the national highway, it has become vulnerable to encroachment. Similarly, there is also an unutilised patch extending from the Link Road to the sluice gate at Khannagar. This patch (nearly nine acres) is also vulnerable as slum population is fast growing in the city.”

“Therefore, it is necessary that both the important patches of land of your department should be protected from encroachment. The civic body and the Cuttack Development Authority have planned to develop parking space on the land for large number of vehicles now parked on the major roads,” said Nanda while offering to share the revenue with the East Coast Railway.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) plans to come up with two major traffic terminals to address the problem of parking of private buses along the Link Road during idle hours and night.

The civic body hoped that the proposed terminals would help out “easing congestion” on Link Road that connects Badambadi bus terminus with NH-5 at Madhupatna caused by “illegal parking” of buses n the road.

“Two patches of land measuring around ten acres has already been identified for providing parking space to the vehicles standing on the major road of the city due to scarcity of land”, a senior CMC official said.

“The lands have been identified at Gopalpur and Khannagar along NH-5”, the official said.

“Parking of buses along Link Road is a long standing traffic problem. While 30 to 40 buses from different parts of the state are parked during idle hours on any given day more than ten off road buses without permit are also left parked along the busy thorough fare”, said Krushna Chandra Samal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

“Besides, around 130 buses are parked along Link Road during the night”, Samal said. “Though several stretches of the Link Road had been declared no parking zones the problem has persisted due to shortage of parking space”, he added.

Official sources said the two patches of land identified for the proposed terminals belonged to Indian Railways and CMC had already moved the railway authorities for providing the land “for the purpose of public utility” as both are “lying unutilized”.

“The Corporation proposes major traffic terminals for easing out congestion”, the CMC Commissioner R.N.Nanda said, while seeking “permissive possession” of both the patches of land “for development of parking zones”, in a recent letter to the General Manager, East Coast Railway.

The Municipal Commissioner point out that, “A vast stretch of Railway land (over 10 acres) exists at Gopalpur which is quite isolated from the railway track and the same is unfit for utilization because of it low-lying topography. In the meantime the land being adjacent to National Highway has become vulnerable to encroachment. Similarly, there is also an unutilized patch extending from Link Road to sluice gate at Khannagar. This patch of land (nearly 9 acres) is also vulnerable from encroachment point of view as slum population is fast growing in the city”.

“Therefore, it is necessary that both the important patches of land of your department should be protected from encroachment and in this context it will not be out of place to mention here that the Cuttack Municipal Corporation and Cuttack Development Authority have planned for the development of parking space on the said land for large number of vehicles presently being parked on the major roads”, Nanda said, while offering to share the revenue with the East Coast Railways.