Everyday, more than 500 buses start plying from the depots, which serve as the nucleus of the public transport system in the State. The depots have a floating population and business establishments, including wholesale trading zones.
No drainage system
First, proper drainage systems in the bus stands are non-existent even as funds have been earmarked for the purpose. With virtually no cleaning job done, the bus stand remains dirty, stinking and slippery for most time in the day.
Sources said there are as many as 40 urinals in the bus stand but no cleaning and maintenance work is ever done. Many of these have been rendered unfit for use. Stray animals rummaging through garbage heaps inside the bus stands, rotting solid waste and passengers entering with their nose covered are a common sight.
Parking fee
Sources said a parking fee of Rs 15 is collected from every bus that enters the terminus daily by the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC). Following a High Court directive, it had been decided that of the Rs 15, while Rs 10 would go to the OSRTC, the remaining Rs 5 would be used for developing passenger amenities and upkeep of the bus stands. Accordingly, the total fees amounting to around Rs 3 lakh is collected by OSRTC every month. However, amenities for the passengers have remained only in papers for many years now.
On Tuesday, when rains lashed Cuttack continuously for over two hours, the bus depot was heavily water-logged causing trouble for commuters. The situation worsened as the garbage heaps inside and outside the bus depots were not cleaned.
“In fact, every other day one can find the garbage lying scattered inside the bus depots as sweepers are never regular in cleaning them. Public toilets too are rarely cleaned. As a result, the place emits stench. However, despite all odds, we have to carry on with our work here,” Akhaya Sahoo, a fruit seller at the main bus stand said.
Broken infrastructure
The resting shed inside the main bus terminus is heavily dilapidated with wide cracks visible on the roof and side walls. While a major portion of this shed is used to store goods and commodities that are meant for transportation, chairs and benches on the other half of the shed have either been broken or uprooted. There are three entry routes to the main bus stand but two of these routes are replete with large potholes and water-logged.
Erratic parking
Parking of buses inside the depots too are erratic. For the number of buses and the passengers that this terminal witnesses, the infrastructure is grossly inadequate. Over the years, the bus terminus has had no expansions though the number of buses plying through it have increased manifold. With the pressure on the terminus going up each day, many a time buses are seen parked on the roadsides leading to acute congestion and disruption of vehicular movement.
Water logging
Official sources said the problem of water-logging inside the bus stand arises as the main drain, to which the drainage system in the bus stand is linked, is clogged. Besides, the height of the main road is higher than that of the bus stand due to which water gushes from the road to the terminus whenever it rains. While the authorities at the office of District Transport Manager, Badambadi, are non-committal about the development works in the bus depots, it is the passengers who are left to suffer.
Meanwhile, a joint committee of Commissionerate Police, High Court advocates and members of the Cuttack Private Bus Owners’ Association last week made an on the-spot assessment of the situation prevailing at the bus stands.