Bus stand at Baramunda (top) and work on for a temporary bus terminal near Khandagiri in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 9: The wait for a modern bus terminal at Baramunda may get longer as private bus owners are unwilling to move to a temporary facility near Khandagiri to allow the work to be completed.

They allege that the temporary facility has an area of two acres, which is too small for them and the government buses. “The existing bus stand is spread across 14.43 acres whereas the temporary stand is just two acres. If the existing bus stand could not accommodate all the buses, how can the temporary bus stand do?” asked Debabrata Patnaik, president of the Private Bus Owners’ Association, Bhubaneswar.

He said he was surprised as to how such a small area would meet the needs of nearly 50,000 commuters and 900 buses.

The proposed temporary bus stand will have toilet facilities, seating arrangements for commuters and parking of night buses. It will have an office of the Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) and Private Bus Owners’ Association.

The building of the temporary bus terminal is also going on at a rather slow pace. Though the work is scheduled for completion on August 5, so far only ground-levelling work has begun.

“The rains have spoiled the construction of the temporary bus stand at Khandagiri and it will take some time,” said Binod Chandra Nayak, deputy manager, technical, OSRTC.

The road transport corporation has undertaken the construction of the temporary bus stand. Nayak assured that all the required facilities, along with parking space for night buses, would be there at the temporary terminal.

Passengers seem to be the worst sufferers as the conditions at the present bus terminal are deteriorating by the day.

“With the monsoon here, the entire area is full of potholes and dirty water. Sometimes it is almost impossible to enter the bus stand,” said Sourav Rana, a commuter. He at least wanted the authorities to do some repair work at the current bus stop.

On March 16, the state government had signed an MoU with a private company — city-based ARSS Infrastructure Projects Limited (AIPL) — to renovate the Baramunda bus stand. Project manager of ARSS Anil Kumar Panda had said the renovation work could not start until a temporary bus stand was fully operational. “We cannot do anything until and unless the area is handed over to us,” he had said.

On the other hand, president of the Private Bus Owners’ Association Debabrata Patnaik had slammed the government for not taking any action regarding the renovation of the terminus.

“We are the second highest revenue earners after the excise department, but look at our condition. It clearly demonstrates the apathy on part of the government,” he had said. The association members were hesitant to shift to the temporary bus stand as the area is too small to accommodate all the vehicles plying through Baramunda.

“As the AIPL is supposed to carry out the renovation work, our priority should be handing over the land by facilitating the process of temporary bus stand,” Binod Chandra Behera, deputy general manager (technical) of the state road transport corporation, had said.

“We will start the renovation on September 15 so the authorities need to shift the buses to the temporary bus stand,” said Anil Kumar Panda, project manager of the private company.

According to the original announcement, the modernised bus stand at Baramunda would have a terminal building with parking bays, shopping and information kiosks, air-conditioned waiting rooms, e-ticketing and smart card system for fare collection, a commercial hub, a movie multiplex and a shopping mall. The project, to be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore, had promised to change the face of the region.

Official sources had originally said that the work on the bus stand was likely to be completed within two years from the time of commencement.

According to one estimate, 560 private and 60 government buses are using the terminus, which gets Rs 3 lakh per month from the private coaches as parking fee.

Another Rs 5 lakh is collected by the OSRTC from shopowners and offices functioning in the area.