Bhubaneswar: Just days after construction of two hundred new bus queue shelters or bus stops for the MO BUS scheme in Bhubaneswar at a cost of Rs 29 crore, they faced the brunt of extremely severe cyclonic storm FANI that hit Odisha on May 3.
General Manager of Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), Dipti Mohapatra, informed that it took around one month to prepare an estimate of the loss. The CRUT staff visited each bus stop to inspect the degree of damage.
It was found that 194 bus stops have been severely damaged, with replacement of parts needed in few bus stops and minor modulation in others. Two bus stops have been entirely damaged, one near Governor House Square and another at Power House Square, which need to be constructed from scratch.
Mohapatra said that the estimated cost of repairing the bus stops is Rs 3.75 crore. But because of funds constraint, the CRUT could not proceed with the work.
However, as Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited had released the funds for construction of the bus stops, discussions are on with the company for placing funds towards the repair work. Meanwhile, the discussion is at the level of finalizing agency for the repair work which is likely to complete in a month’s time, she added.
