Bhanjanagar: The transport department has suffered maximum losses due to Covid pandemic, a report said. The impact of the pandemic has been the harshest on bus owners and their staff for which a proposal has been mooted to waive tax on passenger bus services by the state government by August or September.
This was stated here by State Planning and Convergence, Commerce and Transport Minister, Padmanabha Behera while inaugurating the regional transport office at College Road in Ganjam district, Wednesday.
Minister for Forest, Environment, Climate Change and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh was the chief guest on this occasion.
Behera said the transport department has borne the brunt of the pandemic and its impact has been felt by bus owners and their staff.
Discussions are underway with the department officials to waive tax on buses in August or September. Plans are also afoot to provide bus owners with short term loans to repair their vehicles.
There are 33 RTO offices in the state along with Bhanjanagar. He said the rate of road accidents in the state has declined due to an increase in awareness among people on road safety.
Steps are being taken to further reduce the rate of road accidents in coming days, he added. With an aim to provide connectivity to all parts of the state, the government has planned to construct a bus stand in every block headquarters for which Rs 100 crore has been earmarked in the budget.
However, the project has failed to take off due to delay in identification and acquisition of land. A new bus-stand will be constructed in Jagannathprasad area. Works on the bus stand will start within a fortnight of identification of the land for the project.
Behera said this while drawing the attention of the forest minister in the function. Arukh said development has been taking place in the state due to personal efforts of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
He said more developmental work has to be undertaken in Bhanjanagar for which he sought the cooperation of one and all.
Bhagirathi Nayak, regional transport officer, presided over the meeting while sub-collector Rajendra Minz, Ramesh Swain, executive engineer of the works department joined as the guest of honour. Assistant engineer of the works department, Gopabandhu Mohapatra, president and Bipra Charan Barik, secretary of Ghumusara Bus Owners’ Association attended the function.
PNN