BERHAMPUR: The newly constructed bus terminus at Haladiapadar, about 5 km from the city, is all set to become functional from July 1.Ganjam Collector Prem Chandra Choudhury has issued necessary directions in this regard to various authorities. Work on the new bus terminus, which has been constructed at a cost of Rs 12.87 crore, was taken up by Berhampur Development Authority (BeDa) in 2014 and completed in 2016. The terminus, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, was not made functional due to various reasons.
The delay has been primarily attributed to construction of safe entry and exit points along with a traffic post on NH-16. “The problems have been sorted out and the city bus stand will be shifted completely to Haldiapadar bus terminus,” said Subash Moharana, Chairman of BeDa.The old bus stand in the city near Berhampur stadium,which had been operating since 1950, was completely closed in 2011 and all buses were operating from the city bus stand (known as the new bus stand) managed by BeDA.
However, in order to ease the traffic problem in the city, in 2013, the Ganjam district administration had earmarked land at Haldiapadar and started construction in July 2014.The new terminus is equipped with a rest shed for drivers, garage, rest rooms for passengers, taxi stand, parking facilities for buses, community toilets, canteen and ticket counters. Moharana said all the buses including 350 private ordinary buses, 50 private express buses and 28 OSRTC buses will use the terminus. Since the terminus is away from the city, more town buses would be included, he said, adding that presently 40 town buses ply in and around the city and 20 more such buses would be included soon in the fleet.
However, the private bus operators seem to be not satisfied with the decision. They said the district administration did not consult them before declaring the date of opening of the new bus terminus.