BHUBANESWAR: THE State Government on Wednesday announced to develop a state-of-the-art bus terminal at Khan Nagar as part of its plan to decongest the Millennium city and ease clogging of vehicular traffic in the busy Badambadi area.
Announcing that the new bus terminus will be named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said it will be a tribute to the great freedom fighter who was born at Odia Bazar in Cuttack and had his school education in the city.
The proposed bus terminal to be developed on an area of 12 acres of land belonging to Cuttack Municipal Corporation will have a built up area of 1.18 lakh sq ft at a cost of `65 crore.“The bus terminal will have a three-storeyed terminal building, regular bus bays to accommodate 180 buses at a time, space for local and Mo Bus service, bus repair workshop with parking space, special parking lot for four wheelers and three-wheelers,” the Chief Minister said.
He added that the new bus terminal will have all amenities and facilities for the passengers such as ticket counters, rest room, cloak room, food court and e-vehicle charging station, rooftop rain water harvesting and solar panels. It will also have an integrated information management system for the benefit of the passengers.
It has been decided to widen two km of the Ring road to make free flow of buses to the new terminal. Sources said that plans are afoot to develop a commercial complex over two acres of land in future under public-private partnership mode.
The Works department would undertake the construction with funds provided by the Urban Development department.As the country is preparing to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Netaji starting January 23, the Chief Minister directed to install a special kiosk for providing information about his life and struggle for freedom. The terminal will have motifs and paintings on different shades of Netaji’s life and sacrifice for the country to educate the new generations.
The Chief Minister said the decision to construct a new bus terminal was taken as the existing bus stand located in the busy and crowded Badambadi lacked space to accommodate increasing number of buses and modern passenger facilities.
AMENITIES
3-storeyed terminal building, bus bays to accommodate 180 buses at a time
Space for local and Mo Bus service
Bus repair workshop with parking space
Special parking lot for 4-wheelers and 3-wheelers