Sambalpur: The OSRTC bus stand is unsafe for passengers

Sambalpur is considered one of the major cities in western Odisha. Sambalpur is quite active and prosperous in terms of transportation. Private and public bus services are available to major parts of the state from here. While there is room for private bus service which is managed by the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC). The condition of the government bus stand is deplorable. Unsafe for passengers and disrupted in all respects.

Gradually, the OSRTC relied on private buses to break the deadlock. In such a case, the OSRTC, which was established with great purpose, is about to lose its existence. Both the public and private bus stands were run near Lakshmi Takies Chowk in Sambalpur. Later the private infrastructure was improved and the private bus stand was raised to Aithapali. People were hoping for better management services at government bus stands once they had enough space. But over time, that is likely to change.

Alcohol is rampant in the open, and in the evening, alcoholism is rampant. The district administration has arranged for the liquor store to be opened in the bus stand area to invite the anti-social activities. At the bus stand, liquor is sold, and at the passenger lounge, at the ticket counter, anti-social people drink. For all these reasons, in the evenings, passengers are waiting on the side of the road and boarding the bus, but they do not dare to enter the bus stand. The bus stand is very close to town. However, the police have ignored the allegations. Similarly, the Sambalpur municipality has set up four mobile toilets in the bus stand area. However, it has not been used since its opening. Neither the municipality nor the OSRTC authorities pay much attention to its management. Not only the bus stand, but also the condition of the OSRTC ticket counter. In the abandoned building, the ticket office is in a mess of rubbish. Temporary staff, garbage dumps, unsafe buildings, and even in the midst of disruptive environments, no one pays attention to how to fix it. So slowly passengers have left government buses and relied on private buses.

While the government provides buses at crores of rupees. The transport corporation has been silent on the need to properly manage their infrastructure and restore infrastructure. The Sambalpur unit of the OSRTC was formerly known as a reliable and efficient unit.

Prior to the lockdown, there were 32 buses running on 13 routes in the state. The bus service has been suspended for the past year and a half for the corona cut-off last month after that the bus service has been improved. But the OSRTC has not been able to attract the attention of the public as it used to.