Balasore: 9 e-buses lie unused in Balasore. Will they ever serve the city? This is the question that the intelligentsia of Odisha’s Balasore district wants to ask to the government as well as district administration. Here is a report.
In 2017, 15 city buses were brought to Balasore at a cost of 8 crore rupees in the name of providing city bus services to the people. But the then district administration or the municipal officers probably had no idea about the city’s roads. It is true that buses plied in the city for a few days after the inauguration, but due to the narrow roads, the city bus service completely failed.
Later, some of these buses were sold to Balasore Fakir Mohan Medical College and Fakir Mohan University. The remaining buses are now dumped in front of the Gandhi Smriti Bhawan in the city and are rotting.
Despite the government’s 8 crores expenditure for the city bus service (which failed), the administration did not give in. After a few months, it was planned to launch battery-powered e-bus service in the city again. These pollution-free, comfortable, air-conditioned battery-powered buses that travel 150 km on a single charge were commissioned by the district administration to be run in the city.
Accordingly, 9 battery-powered buses were brought to the city at once. It was decided that these buses would be operated through the Balasore Bhadrak Urban Transport Trust. The people of Balasore welcomed this plan, but during its operation, this plan also failed.
The reason most probably is — no attention had been paid towards the maintenance, staff recruitment and charging stations for operation of these buses.
There was a proposal to build a charging station for e-buses at the new bus stand in Remuna Ganeshwarpur. But only a bus stand house was built there, but no infrastructure was built for the construction of the charging station. So, like the city buses that came earlier, these e-buses also failed?
Of the 9 e-buses that have now come to Balasore, 6 would have run in Balasore, and 3 would have run between Bhadrak and Balasore. But unfortunately, it did not materialize.
Since the inauguration day, these buses are rotting at the office of the Balasore Regional Transport Officer. Because of the lack of vision and willpower of the district administration, such buses are lying idle.
The buses are beautiful to look at. All the e-buses have facilities like fire safety, AC, mobile charging and first aid kits. But since the plan is not being implemented, there are allegations that such a sponsored plan was made just to buy vehicles and earn commission.
Will the battery-powered buses that have come to Balasore become obsolete like the city buses?
Since the inauguration of these 9 e-buses that have come to the city, the District Regional Transport Office has been facing problems due to the charging station and lack of management.
These 9 e-buses had been brought to provide pollution-free, comfortable, high-quality transport services.
However, the buses that were brought at a cost of crores of rupees from the government funds are rotting. On the other hand, the people of Balasore are expressing their anger every day after seeing the administrative failure.
Why is government money being wasted? What is the purpose behind wasting money without running the buses? No one has the answer to this question.
Urban Development Minister Dr. Krishna Chandra Mohapatra, who visited Balasore to console the city dwellers, said that the city bus service will start again very soon.
According to the minister, DPR is being prepared to restart the buses. 40-seater buses that can ply in the city will run. The charging center will be built near the under-construction bus stand at Remuna. Time will tell whether the e-bus will run in Balasore city or not.
Ashutosh Mallick, Balasore Reporter, Kalinga TV
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