Bhubaneswar: Baramunda Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) in Odisha capital is likely to be readied by October this year, said officials of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), the implementation agency of the project.
Once operationalised, ISBT will serve as the biggest bus terminus in the state handling more than 500 buses and thousands of passengers daily. Currently, buses are operating from a temporary site near Khandagiri hills.
“Over 90% work at the bus terminus is over. We hope the project will be dedicated in next one-and-a-half months to the public. We have worked on the operational module of the ISBT. It will be operated in public-private-partnership mode. The buses will start operating from ISBT from October,” BDA vice- chairman Balwant Singh said at the 41st foundation day event of the agency.
BDA has floated a tender to provide the advertising rights at ISBT.
For smooth operationalisation of the terminus, authorities have worked on a traffic plan for buses, entering and leaving the ISBT. Buses coming from Cuttack side will make a U-turn from Khandagiri Square and reach ISBT. Those coming from Khurda side will directly enter ISBT. The approach roads to the terminus from the NH16 side have been widened.
Singh also informed about GIS-based Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) being worked out for newly added areas in Bhubaneswar Development Project Area. “Planned development activities will be taken up in around 1,500 acre area in near future, while we will also work in peri-urban areas where civic services are yet to reach,” he said, adding that feedback will be sought on the draft plan to ensure balanced and sustainable growth of the extended Bhubaneswar.
The BDA is also planning to develop a new city with 95 per cent government ownership in Daspur and Gothapatana mouzas, which will help boost economic development of the city. “The agency will also ready affordable housing projects in different localities for citizens, especially those affected in infrastructure development projects,” he added.