File picture of city buses at a terminus in Bhubaneswar

Cuttack, May 17: Residents of the twin cities get a reason to rejoice as Orissa High Court has directed the state government to introduce the city bus service on route No. 3, which had remained a non-starter since the past one year.

The court yesterday ordered plying of 10 buses on route No. 3 within three weeks, raising hopes of better connectivity and easier travel for commuters of east Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

“The 10 buses on route No. 3 will ease travelling to the capital by the city bus. Earlier, one has to cross the Mahanadi bridge and travel all the way to OMP Square to avail the buses,” said Sachidananda Behera, 37, a resident of Jagatpur.

“Though the service was extended to Cuttack nearly a year ago, not a single one of those was passing through our area,” said Anand Sahu, 29, a resident of Mahanadi Vihar.

Dream Team Sahara (DTS), the city bus operator, is running the service in a public-private-partnership mode under an MoU signed with Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited.

The service to Cuttack started following intervention of the high court on a PIL, filed by social activist Chittaranjan Mohanty.

On May 16 last year, chief minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the DTS bus service in Cuttack from Biju Patnaik Park at Sector 12 of CDA. The government had provided 10 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme. Later, five more buses were added in July. Another five buses were pressed into service in September.

At present, 20 buses are operating between the twin cities. Though a traffic and transport management committee, constituted by the high court, finalised the three routes, all the buses have so far been running on two routes to increase frequency between arrival and departure of bus from one stop to the other.

Yesterday, members of the high court bar pointed out that 10 buses were not being used and sought direction for extending the bus service on all the three routes that were proposed earlier.

“Taking note of it, the division bench of Justice Bimal Prasad Das and Justice Madan Mohan Das directed the state urban and housing development department to ensure plying of buses on all the three routes within three weeks by operating 10 buses on route No. 3 in addition to the 20 buses that were plying on route No. 1 and 2,” traffic and transport management committee member advocate P.K. Panda told The Telegraph.

“The court further specified that the traffic and transport management committee would decide the time and stoppage on route No. 3 (Jagatpur to Rasulgarh in Bhubaneswar via Mahanadi Vihar, Nua Bazar, Bidyadharpur, Central Rice Research Institute and Madhupatna),” Panda said.

Passengers are now availing the city bus service on route No. 1 (Biju Patnaik Park at Sector 12 of CDA to AG Square in Bhubaneswar via high court, Badambadi and Madhupatna) and route No. 2 (Bidanasi to Master Canteen via Deula Sahi, Kanika Chhak, Shailabala Women’s College, Buxi Bazar, Cantonment Road, Matamatha, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Ranihat, College Square, OMP Square, Badambadi and Madhupatna).

CRUISING ALONG

Existing route

No. 1
Areas covered: Biju Patnaik Park in Sector 12 of CDA to AG Square in Bhubaneswar via High Court, Badambadi and Madhupatna
No. 2
Areas covered: Bidanasi in Cuttack to Master Canteen in Bhubaneswar via Deula Sahi, Kanika Chhak, Shailabala Women’s College, Buxi Bazar, Cantonment Road, Matamatha, SCB Medical College Hospital, Ranihat, College Square, OMP Square, Badambadi and Madhupatna

New route
No. 3
Areas to be covered: Jagatpur in Cuttack to Rasulgarh in Bhubaneswar
via Mahanadi Vihar, Nua Bazar, Bidyadharpur, Central Rice Research Institute and Madhupatna

Though the city bus service was extended to Cuttack nearly a year ago, not a single one of those plying between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar has been passing through our area
Anand Sahu, resident of Mahanadi Vihar, Cuttack