ROURKELA: Two new luxury buses procured to ferry air travelers from Rourkela to the Jharsuguda airport have been lying idle for the past four months even as authorities concerned are yet to apply to the State Transport Authority (STA) for route permit.
With Rourkela set to co-host the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 the two Volvo buses were procured for about Rs 2.56 crore by the Sundargarh Urban Transport Trust (SUTT) to facilitate best and inexpensive road travel experience for those flying to and from Jharsuguda airport.
Sources said the SUTT, using the Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) portal, booked the buses and the vehicles from Bangalore were delivered in the third week of May. The SUTT plans to run the two buses through third party to facilitate road travel for travelers between Rourkela and Jharsuguda.
While the newly-appointed Rourkela Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Bibhabanjan Samantasingray said he is not aware of any further development, reliable sources said application has not yet been moved to the STA for route permit. Moreover, there is confusion if the SUTT or the RTO or the third party would apply for the route permit.
The Rourkela airport, much smaller in size than the VSS airport at Jharsuguda, is scheduled to launch commercial flights operation under the RCS-UDAAN scheme before the mega hockey event with very limited route destinations. It is envisaged the Jharsuguda airport with flights to major cities of the country would serve as an import airport for access to Rourkela during the showpiece event.
The distance between Rourkela and Jharusguda is about 130 kms and passengers from Rourkela have to pay Rs 3,000-4,000 in hiring private vehicles to catch flights. Frequent air travelers from Rourkela Bimal Kumar Bisi said presently air passenger from Rourkela either have to hire vehicle or avail services of a travel agency paying Rs 1,500 per head for one-way journey.
He demanded the SUTT buses should immediately start operation to help passengers commute. However, SUTT Chairman and Sundargarh Collector Parag Harshad Gavali and SUTT Chief Executive Officer and Rourkela ADM Subhankar Mohapatra are yet to respond on the matter.