Bhubaneswar: The state government has approved the merger of transport jurisdictions of Cuttack, Puri, Konark with Bhubaneswar to provide seamless bus service to commuters.

To achieve this, the Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited has been renamed the Capital Region Urban Transport (Crut).

The housing and urban development department had last month proposed the merger move that got the commerce and transport department's nod on Saturday.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the proposal on Saturday and gave the go ahead for the merger.

Following the merger, the master plan areas of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) and Puri Konark Development Authority will be part of Crut jurisdiction. The new body will identify routes for greater connectivity with more number of buses.

The Telegraph had on December 23 reported about the plan of the state government to merge the transport jurisdictions and accord state transport status to the Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited.

"We had a detailed discussion on the modernisation plan and proposed the merger idea for seamless bus services in the city and its neighbouring areas," said BDA vice-chairman Krishan Kumar.

Saturday's meeting also decided to form a board of director's body for CURT. The development commissioner will head Crut.

In the new entity, the BDA will hold 60 per cent share, while the CDA's part will be 40 per cent.

"All intra city bus routes will be reserved for Crut. We will make efforts to rationalise the routes according to law. We will consider best practices adopted by other cities," said an official of urban development department.

"It is a welcome move to strengthen the public transport facilities here. The present state of transport is not good," said Saheed Nagar resident Seshadev Rath.

"This allows auto-rickshaws and other private cabs to exploit commuters. The new facilities will save both money and time for us," Rath added.