BERHAMPUR: The bus transportation system in the Silk City is likely to enter a critical phase with the OSRTC Staff Federation here threatening to resort to agitation protesting the district administration’s decision to convert a patch of land into a parking lot. The patch to be converted into a parking lot for general public is located at the old bus stand. The OSRTC owns a small patch of land. This land, recorded in the name of Berhampur Municipal Corporation, is presently being used to park OSRTC long route buses. This is the only bus stand from where the OSRTC buses operate as the new bus stand is used by private buses. However, recently the Ganjam district administration decided to shift the buses from the old to the new bus stand. The OSRTC staff said they are not in a position to compete with the private buses and moreover the old stand is preferable from the safety angle as well because the new one is at an isolate spot and looks deserted from late evening. “If the administration is determined to take away the present parking space, it should allow us to use garage adjacent to Khallikote Autonomous College as bus stand,” said a federation member. The RTC staff federation, determined to stay put, decided to resort to agitation at a meeting here on Thursday. The RTC had a good landed property in the city and is operating more than 100 buses in the district from its Berhampur zone. For the past some days claiming losses, RTC stopped all the buses operating in the district. Now, less than 10 long route buses use the old stand as a stoppage. Since the old stand is located in the heart of the city and buses usually reach the city in odd hours, it would be the right place considering the safety and connecting transportation facilities for the passengers, the federation argued.
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