Bhubaneswar: The tug-of-war between the state and central governments over execution of the much-awaited railway station multi-modal hub project has put passengers in trouble with the station area reeling from severe infrastructure problems.

The problems begin with roads leading to the station continuing to remain in bad condition and encroachment by vendors on both sides adding to the congestion.

Irregular parking of vehicles, mainly the cabs and auto-rickshaws, has doubled the trouble for the people.

"This is the gateway to the city and it needs to be maintained properly. Construction of the roads to the station is yet to be completed and remains in bad shape. The situation becomes worst during monsoon with slush covering the road. To add to our trouble, encroachment has gone beyond control," said Amruta Mohapatra, a daily passenger.

The situation has aggravated as the railway station multi-modal hub project is yet to take-off as the state nor central governments continue to differ on a date and place to sign the pact for it.

Sources said both the governments have started an ego war to make petty political gains out of the project even as the passengers remain at the receiving end.

The government wants to ink the pact in Bhubaneswar as it is funding the entire project, while the Centre wants it to be done in Delhi.

"It seems that both the governments are playing with our emotions. Why should people suffer just because the governments want to take credit for the project? The state government claims this project will benefit people and is taking steps. I have no idea why the Centre is coming in the way," said social worker Alok Kar.

The government has already prepared the project report and revised the memorandum of understanding after taking inputs from the East Coast Railway (ECoR).

According to the agreement, the authorities will develop a new terminal building, city bus terminal and vehicle parking facility among others.

In a latest development, the housing and urban development department secretary G. Mathi Vathanan has written again to the ECoR to back up chief minister Naveen Patnaik's letter to railway minister Piyush Goyal. The secretary has urged the principal chief engineer of the ECR Laxmi Narayan to fix a date to ink the pact in Bhubaneswar.

Department insiders said that Narayan is yet to respond.