Rourkela, Dec. 12: The city's claim for the smart city status received a setback today with the new bus operators stopping the service allegedly for incurring losses.
The city bus service, launched on November 2, was supposed to be one of the additional provisions for Rourkela's bid to get the smart city status.
in Rourkela. Picture by
Uttam Kumar Pal
The Sundargarh Urban Transport Trust, headed by the local additional district magistrate and Sampark, which was operating buses all over Rourkela, had formalised the agreement to run the city bus service.
The director of Sampark, Minaketan Mohanty, said: "We have given in writing to SUTT and the administration that we cannot run the service. We are incurring heavy losses as there are not enough passengers."
Sampark, which had been formed with 13 operators, invested more than Rs 24 lakh for the bus service.
Sources said that the administration was in touch with the government for some alternative arrangements.
However, repeated attempts to contact the additional district magistrate regarding the alternative arrangements yielded no result.
Following the agreement between the district administration and Sampark last month, city bus service was launched connecting Rourkela with nearby areas such as Rajgangpur, Biramitrapur and Bisra. It had rolled out 10 buses from the Sector II bus terminus.
Before the introduction of the new bus service, six buses that were brought from Berhampur on lease were plying in Rourkela city. However, that service was found to be inadequate.
The new bus service remained plagued by various problems since its inception. From December 8, around 20 drivers and conductors running the new fleet of buses have been on strike demanding better employment conditions.
The general secretary of Sundargarh Motor Karmchari Sangha, a CITU-backed union, Akhaya Mahanta, said: "The operators had promised Employees' State Insurance coverage and other benefits to the drivers. However, they failed in their commitment. The drivers were asked to take their payment on a daily basis. That is why they went on a strike."
