Bhubaneswar: As the Capital city bids adieu to a decade and welcomes the New Year with open arms, Orissa POST takes a look at what lies in store for the denizens in the year 2020.
Electric Buses
- Number of Buses: 50
- Operation expected: May
With a view to promoting environment-friendly public transport, the twin city will see about 50 electric buses running on different routes in 2020.
Under the Union government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and hybrid) Vehicles scheme or Fame-II, Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) is set to deploy the buses by May 2020.
While demo runs have already started, CRUT along with Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) has already begun to identify and set up charging stations at different locations.
CRUT’s Mo Bus move to adapt e-vehicles in public transport is widely appreciated by experts who have lamented the degrading air quality of the City. With excessive motorisation and rapid urbanization, the City is struggling with constant gradual degradation in air quality.
Multi-Level Car Parking at Sahid Nagar, Rajmahal Square
- Estimated Cost: Rs 72.7 crore
- Completion of project: August-November
Come 2020, the denizens may not have to struggle to find a spot for parking during rush hours. Opening at Sahid Nagar and Rajmahal Square, the Multi-Level Car Parking (MLCP) will accommodate about 700 cars.
Planned under the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL), the project that missed several deadlines will finally be a reality by next year. Build at a cost of Rs 72.7 crore, the MLCP at Sahid Nagar is set to be completed by August and at Rajmahal Square by November.
While the five-story MLCP at Sahid Nagar will cater to about 250 cars, the seven-floor MLCP may accommodate 450 cars in its 57,000 sq ft commercial space.
Smart Janpath
- Estimated Cost: Rs 79.56 crore
- Completion of project: November
Initiated in 2017, the never-ending project of redevelopment of the 5.8 km stretch at Janpath is finally set to be completed in 2020.
Undertaken by the BSCL, the 79.56-crore project had hit major roadblocks in Hockey World Cup, general elections and cyclone Fani. The project which includes construction of public plazas (hangout zones), sensor-based on-street parking facility, robust surveillance systems, among others will see the light of the day by November next year.
Lingraj Temple
- Estimated Cost: Rs 700 crore
- Tentative period of completion: Oct-Nov
In lines with metamorphosis of Puri Srimandir, the city’s own Lingraj Temple is likely to see a complete makeover in this New Year.
While the eviction and demolition works have already started, beautification works will soon be followed in the re-development plan for the 66-acre Ekamra Kshetra. Although no official estimates for the project has been announced, sources believe that the project may cost about Rs 700 crore.
However, experts say that the complete makeover will take more than a year.
More Flights from Bhubaneswar
- Expected number of new flights: 5
- Routes: Surat, Bangkok, Bangalore
With increasing traffic noticed at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), the city airport may see more flights connecting the Capital city to the rest of the world.
While the Ministry of Civil Aviation has recently approved a direct flight from Bhubaneswar to Surat, the BPIA may receive more international flights as assured by the new director V V Rao.
Sources at the BPIA say that as many as five new flights may be announced in 2020 which will also include a direct flight to Bangkok and Dubai.