The strike by private bus operators opposing the state government’s Location-Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme on Friday hit life across the state causing hardships to passengers heading home for Durga Puja festivities.
In Sambalpur, passengers were stranded for hours together as buses remained off the roads on the day. Jugal Mahakud, a resident of Burla, was supposed to travel to her sister’s place in Jharsuguda. “I was supposed to visit my sister to see her newborn baby girl. But no buses are plying due to the agitation. In the absence of bus service, auto-rickshaw drivers are demanding Rs 200-Rs 250 on a sharing basis,” he said.
Another passenger Sidhant Lenka, who was travelling to Rourkela with a colleague, was stranded at Sambalpur. He said, “I had to reach Rourkela by Saturday for official work. However, I am stranded here for the last four hours.”
Similar was the situation in Ganjam district where passengers faced a tough time arranging transportation. Sunil Behera of Jagannathprasad said, “I work in a private company in Berhampur and took leave for five days to spend time with my family during Durga Puja. Now I am stuck at Berhampur. Bus operators should have been informed about their strike at least before 10-15 days.”
Like Behera, many students heading home for puja vacation also faced a difficult time due to the bus strike. Sources said passengers were seen rushing to OSRTC buses and light transport vehicles. However, those were not enough to meet the heavy demand.
Private bus service from Jeypore, Koraput, Semiliguda, Nabarangpur, Umerkote, Malkangiri, Chitrakonda, Rayagada and Gunupur was also paralysed. Tribal passengers faced a harrowing time as no bus was available to the 42 panchayats of Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Nabarangpur districts.
Doli Rani Nayak, a passenger from Koraput, said, “As regular buses were not plying, I had to travel in a packed auto-rickshaw through the ghat road by paying a much higher fare.” Sources said around 3,000 passengers were stranded at the main bus stands of undivided Koraput district.
In Kalahandi, a group of youths who worked in tailoring units in Bengaluru, returned for the puja holidays on Thursday night. They got down at Kesinga railway station and managed to reach Bhawanipatna in an overloaded government bus. However, they were unable to travel to their respective villages in the absence of buses.
Due to the bus strike, Dhiren Nanda of Rourkela and his family members were stranded at Baripada bus terminal in Mayurbhanj district for several hours. Finding no other option, he hired a car by paying a hefty sum and went to Rourkela. Like Nanda, many passengers were forced to pay higher fares to go to their destination.