City buses start rolling after withdrawal of students’ strike. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 5: Commuters heaved a sigh of relief as the city bus service, which had been disrupted for four days by students demanding free rides, resumed today.

The students withdrew their strike after reaching an agreement with the city mayor and chairman of Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL), Ananta Narayan Jena.

Mandakini Jena, a professional who travels more than 20 kilometres everyday said she was glad to the see the buses plying city roads again.

“With the city bus service remaining unavailable, we had to face a lot of problems and were duped by autorickshaw drivers into paying more than double the regular fare. Now, we can save both our money and time,” she said.

Other commuters felt the same way. “I depend on buses to travel to work since I don’t own a two-wheeler or a car. I am obviously relieved. Students should understand that there are other ways of raising issues. Attracting the attention of the government by inconveniencing the common people will not do them any good,” said Shambhu Nayak, a commuter.

Of the 84 city buses, as many as 82 buses began plying the roads today. Buses running in various parts of the capital were jam-packed while many others travelled to Cuttack and Puri.

“We decided to resume the bus service only after the students assured us that they would not create any trouble or inconvenience for the commuters,” said Nishikant Mishra, chairman of Dream Team Sahara, which has been entrusted with the responsibility of running the city bus service. He added that the city bus service would be fully operational with a fleet of 125 buses by the end of September. Meanwhile, mayor Jena is also breathing free. “We need to go through the operational process of the free bus service being offered for students in other states. After three months, we will be in a position to explain the concept of free travel to the state government and then they will take a call,” Jena said.

The agitating students were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting with Jena. “The government has asked for three months’ time to come up with a feasible solution. As of now, the BPTSL chairman has assured us that a good concession on regular bus fare would be given to college-going students,” said Tanmaya Swain, a student of Utkal University.