The completed city bus terminal at Chandrasekharpur in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, June 3: The state government has asked the general administration department and the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police to evict encroachers from the land identified for construction of origin-destination terminals for city bus service.

The decision was taken at a recent meeting chaired by development commissioner Injeti Srinivas.

An official of the general administration department said that three plots had been identified for construction of the terminals, but the plots of land are currently lying encroached. While two of these are located in VSS Nagar, the other is at Dumduma.

An official of Dream Team Sahara (DTS), the private agency that operates city bus service, said in the absence of the terminals they had to incur financial loss as buses were forced to make the idle run from Master Canteen depot and Pokhariput terminal to other places. According to the agreement with the DTS, the state government was supposed to set up 12 such terminals in the city. But so far, barring two such terminals — one each at Patia and Ghatikia — no other facility has been built.

The terminals to be built in an area between one and three acre will have the power, water and temporary sheds. Besides a washing ramp is another requirement of the terminal.

“As soon as the state government handed over two newly built origin-destination terminals, we have started operating from there,” said chief executive officer of DTS Sudhanshu Jena.

Besides the state government has decided to constitute a sub-committee, consisting of representatives from the GA department, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, works department and police to take up a survey and identify other suitable land for the terminals.

“Once the GA department gives us possession of land, we will start construction of origin-destination terminal,” said chairman of the Bhubaneswar-Puri Road Transport Service Limited (BPTSL) Anant Narayan Jena. The BPTSL is a body constituted by the state government to monitor the city bus service.

In another related development, the state government has asked the BPTSL authorities to install closed circuit television cameras inside city buses, bus depots and origin-destination terminals within two months.