A women-only bus leaves the city bus terminal on Monday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, July 29: Women can happily say “good riddance” to being ogled at, nudged and poked, if they’re lucky enough to get into four women-only buses that rolled for the first time in the city today.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off two pairs of the women’s special buses that will ply on route No. 207 — connecting the city airport and Nandankanan, and route No. 306 between KIIT University (Patia) and Balakati on the outskirts of the city.

Women passengers happily climbed into the special buses at the Master Canteen bus terminal, revelling in their newfound freedom.

Each of the magenta-coloured buses emblazoned with “women empowerment” have a seating capacity of 60. The buses will run in two shifts — 8.30am to 11am and 4.30pm to 7pm every day. During the rest of the day, they will run as regular buses.

Alka, a student of Ramadevi Women’s College here, had reached the bus terminal at 4pm after her classes got over and found many eager faces waiting to board the women’s special buses.

“I usually take a bus home and it is always jam-packed in the late afternoons. Almost every day, I encounter ill-behaved male passengers, who have no compunction about nudging, groping or passing vulgar remarks. Hopefully, the women-only buses will end that ordeal, but the timings need to be stretched beyond 7pm to help women who work late hours to get home safely,” she said.

Though the service operators have not, so far, been able to find women drivers and conductors for the buses, the commuters are not complaining. “In a way it is good for our safety. Male conductors and drivers can tackle goons and block their entry into the buses in a more effective manner,” said 35-year-old homemaker Basanti Pradhan.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, chairman of Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL), which runs the city bus service, said the women’s special buses might be extended to more routes in the city in future.

The regular bus fares would apply to the special vehicles, said Nishikant Mishra, chairman of Dream Team Sahara, the private operator of the bus service.

“After the bus fare is revised, we will decide if women passengers will be given a concession. We will run the buses in shifts because the women’s exclusive buses launched by the state transport department between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on Women’s Day on March 8 have failed to generate satisfactory business,” said Mishra.