Two-wheelers and a car parked at a bus bay near Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 13: Bus bays, which are proposed to come up across the city, are gradually transforming into parking lots following inordinate delay in developing these facilities along with modern rest sheds.

Of the 55 proposed bays, 22 are partially completed with only the public works department (PWD) having done its part. So far, just 11 bays have been handed over to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), which now plans to construct sheds near the facilities. The rest sheds will have information boards displaying bus routes, their numbers and the charges.

Subhakanta Swain, who teaches engineering at a city-based college, said: “The bays have been under construction for over a year but they are not used by the city buses. So, local people have started using the space as parking lots. On the busy Janpath and Bidyut Marg, the bays have completely been taken over by private parking.”

Of the 11 bus bays completed so far, many like those near Master Canteen Square, Big Bazar Square, Rupali Square, Kalinga Stadium, Jayadev Vihar and the Regional Science Centre are lying unused. At several places, private persons, travel agencies, taxi operators and hoteliers are parking their vehicles at the bays. Consequently, city buses are parking on the road.

Project officer of BMC’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) Srimanta Mishra said PWD officials have so far given a go-ahead to 11 bus bays. “On April 28, we published a notice inviting expression of interests (EOI) from firms with expertise in building modern rest sheds for bus stops and bays. We have received 17 applications so far,” he said.

“After nearly three years of city bus service, we have no bays. That is why the buses are stopping just about anywhere on the roads for commuters to hop on and off,’’ said Bobby Parida, an IT professional, who frequently travels by city bus.

The JNNURM project officer said they had already informed the Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) – the company managing city buses – to ask operators to use the bays even without the rest sheds. “Once they start using the bus bays, others will not dare to use them as parking lots,” he said.