Orissa High Court rejects PILs towards bus terminal

By Express News Service
CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Monday rejected two PILs difficult the development of the proposed Netaji Bus terminal at Khannagar, basis stone for which was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on January 23.

Satyanarayan Mohanty and Brundaban Das Ajad, each residents of Cuttack metropolis, had filed the 2 petitions looking for path for cancellation of the proposal to assemble the bus terminal at Khannagar which is a residential use zone.

However, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray dismissed the petitions after the State authorities in an affidavit claimed that the proposed web site is just not a residential use zone.

It additional claimed {that a} majority of the proposed space for building of the terminal is earmarked for public and semi-public use zone’, together with a small portion earmarked as leisure use zone.

In the affidavit, Cuttack Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani stated the Comprehensive Development Plan of Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) doesn’t prohibit the development of a bus terminal in public and semi-public use zones or leisure use zone.

“Further, the State has duly obtained relevant in-principal permission for the project from the Development Plan and Building Permission Committee of the CDA and shall proceed in due compliance of law for its execution”, he stated.

Chayani stated the choice of the State to assemble the terminal relies on earlier expertise of the federal government in different cities like Puri and Berhampur the place it was seen that bus terminals on the outskirts of the cities did not get commuters or examine unauthorised parking of buses contained in the cities.

“Hence, it is envisaged that the site at Gopalpur earlier proposed for the terminal which is away from Cuttack city, will be reserved for other development works in the future”, he stated.

Chayani additionally said that the choice of the federal government to assemble the bus terminal within the proposed web site arises out of its proximity to the present bus terminal at Badambadi. 

“Such proximity shall curtail long travel distance for commuters, reduce travel and decongest traffic in the peripheral area”, the Cuttack Collector stated.