Applicants crowd a counter at the RTO, Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 23: You can look forward to saying goodbye to never-ending queues, cramped space and long hours spent at the Regional Transport Office.

The city will soon have another Regional Transport Office (RTO). A proposal of the commerce and transport department received the finance department’s nod on Thursday.

The commerce and transport department will hold a meeting with the officials of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority to finalise a location of the new office.

“Though the location is yet to be ascertained, we are likely to set up the new office either at Khandagiri on NH-5 or Uttara Chhak on Bhubaneswar-Puri NH-203,” said a senior official in the transport department.

With more than 7.84 lakh vehicles registered under Bhubaneswar RTO so far and with around 90,000 vehicles being added every year, a new office has become imperative. “The population of the city has increased along with the number of vehicles. So, an additional RTO office is required for the city,” said joint secretary (transport) Ajay Kumar Naik.

Sources in the department said most of highly populated cities such as Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh had more than one Regional Transport Office to meet the demand.

The existing office, which is more than 50 years old, does not have adequate parking space and circulating area. Of the two entry and exit gates, only one is functioning because of the presence of makeshift shops. A vehicle junkyard occupies a substantial portion of the office premises making it congested during working hours.

The existing office issues around 2,500 driving licences and an equal number of fitness certificates every month. The office registers 4,000 new vehicles besides issuing more than 500 permits every month.

The office also faces manpower shortage resulting in problems for city residents. “We need at least three motor vehicle inspectors, two assistant regional transport officers and 10 traffic inspectors for smooth functioning of the office,” said a senior official. One motor vehicle inspector, two traffic inspectors, one assistant regional transport officer, one head clerk and four junior clerks are at present managing the office.

“We have to spend a lot of time to get our work done because of the manpower shortage in the present office which also does not have enough space,” said Subhrajit Sahoo, a local resident of Laxmisagar.