BHUBANESWAR: One year after it was sanctioned by the State Government, the modern inter-State bus terminal project at Baramunda continues to face the encroachment hurdle. The joint eviction team of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) which has relaunched the eviction drive in the area after several months could only remove three temporary sheds, two boundary walls and two toilets constructed illegally.
There are several other shops that have come up in the area illegally and many of them have been provided on rent by the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC), which is collecting a fee from the renters.
"While some have managed to bring stay orders from the court, in other cases we found that shops have been given on rent. This is the biggest roadblock in removal of the structures for progress of the project," an official of BMC-BDA enforcement squad said.
The State Cabinet had approved the project in September last year with a construction deadline of 24 months. Though a year has already passed, the project work is moving at a snail’s pace. The terminus would come up on 1,31,713 sq ft area with commercial space of 1,70,912 sq ft. It will also have 35 bus bays and 190 idle parking spaces. Apart from this, public parking space for more than 250 four wheelers and 175 two wheelers has also been planned.
The BDA has been entrusted with the development of the project on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode on the basis of a transparent bidding process.A bus depot is also being set up at Khandagiri for shifting the present one at Baramunda temporarily.