Trucks at the terminal in Rasulgarh Square, Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 20: The city will soon have two terminals to provide parking space for heavy transport vehicles and ease traffic snarls, but truck owners are not convinced about the effectiveness and capacity of the proposed hubs.

While one is under construction on six acres near Gangapada on NH-5 between Jatni and Bhubaneswar, the other one is supposed to come up on three acres at Rudrapur on NH-5 between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. But truck owners hope that the present truck stand at Rasulgarh continues to function simultaneously.

Officials of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished an illegal petrol pump on Thursday at the Rudrapur site of the proposed truck terminal. “For a long time, the project has been running behind schedule because of the encroachment. Although outwardly there seemed to be no activity at the pump, there was a huge stock of diesel inside. So we destroyed the underground tank,” said BMC recovery officer Sumita Behera.

The joint eviction was conducted by BMC, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the general administration department.

Sources at the All-Odisha Truck Owners Association said 5,000 trucks plied NH-5 in the city. Besides these, there are another 2,500 trucks and of them 500 are used by individuals and communities for local transport.

The truck association’s general secretary Rabi Satapathy said: “The Gangapada terminal will be used by the trucks coming via NH-5 from Chennai and the Rudrapur one will be used by the highway trucks coming from Calcutta.”

The ban on entering urban limits for trucks is also a problem. “Trucks are banned from 8am to 10pm in most areas of the city except Mancheswar Industrial Estate area. So, if the present truck terminal is moved from Rasulgarh Square to Rudrapur there will be a serious cost escalation. We have to charge Rs 150 extra for a single trip,” Satapathy said.

Sources said a one acre plot can hold only 150 to 170 trucks. So, the Gangapada and Rudrapur terminals together will fail to accommodate all the city trucks. If the trucks plying NH-5 are accommodated only in Gangapada, then too all the local trucks cannot be accommodated at the Rudrapur site.

The general administration department has given a notice to acquire the truck terminal at Rasulgarh Square. “As the Rudrapur terminal will be inadequate, we still need a plot inside the city,” Satapathy said.

BDA chief engineer Ashutosh Mallick said: “The Gangapada site is ready with lights, toilets and drinking water facilities and similar infrastructure will be developed at Rudrapur.”

The truck owners, however, said the basic facilities at Gangapada were incomplete. “The state government is yet to construct a full-fledged truck terminal anywhere in Odisha so far. The only terminal at Jagatpur is also incomplete. So, we are apprehensive of the government’s claim and should be allowed to operate from the Rasulgarh stand,” said one truck owner.