Bhubaneswar, June 16: Senior citizens here have demanded a raise in seat reservations for them in city-buses run by Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) from two to four.

Pahala resident Kulamani Mishra led a delegation of senior citizens and met municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar and mayor Ananta Narayan Jena today. They also presented a memorandum stating their demand.

Mishra said they had made several representations to the service provider for reservation of four seats in all city buses for senior citizens, but the authorities were yet to take up the matter. "Many senior citizens suffer as they have to stand while travelling in city buses in the absence of adequate reserved seats. That is why we have made the demand," said Mishra.

He said he had also reached out to local legislator Priyadarshi Mishra with similar demands in the past, but got nothing apart from a token assurance. "We went to him and put forward our demands. He had assured us that he would talk to the mayor and the authorities concerned so that our demands were fulfilled, but nothing has been done," said Mishra.

Kharavela Nagar resident Krishna Chandra Rath, 68, who was also a part of the delegation, also narrated the problem that they had to face in buses. He said although there number of buses were not adequate, they opted for this mode of transport as it was safer and more affordable than auto-rickshaws or cabs. "Public transport system in the city is not good, forcing many people to arrange for their own mode of transport," he said.

"It becomes very difficult to arrange our own modes of transport. We have to opt for buses, mostly by standing in over-crowded buses. There is a need to mark more seats for us and also increase the number of buses," he said.

At present, each city bus reserves two seats for women, two for senior citizens and two for persons with disability, while the rest are for the general public. "We received the memorandum and will forward it to the government. We will try to fulfil their demands," said city mayor.

The BPTSL operates 92 intra-city buses on 10 city routes, with 33,000 opting for the service daily. The administration has also proposed a revamp of the city bus services with the introduction of more buses and high-standard bus stops and depots under the smart city mission. There are plans to increase the number of buses to about 500 in the future.

State blamed

Union steel minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh on Fridday blamed the state government for South Korean steelmaker Posco's withdrawal from its project in Paradip. However, the Naveen Patnaik government refuted the allegations levelled at them.

Attending an event in Bhubaneswar, Singh said: "Land acquisition for the project was delayed. It was the state government which should have expedited the project." However, state steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallick said: "After the Centre decided to allocate mines through auction, Posco backed out from the project."