Bhubaneswar: To streamline vehicle parking and monetise the vacant unused land parcels, the Odisha government has decided to set up truck terminals along the highways.
According to official sources, the terminals will have warehouses and cold storage facilities, a petrol bunk, a restaurant, a weighing bridge, a loading and unloading area, a dormitory, toilets and bathrooms, ATMs, a health clinic and other facilities.
While the Commerce and Transport department has already identified land at Sundargarh, Balasore, Kendrapada, Angul, Bhadrak and Nabarangpur, the STA has invited an expression of interest (EoI) for the construction, development and maintenance of truck terminals on Public Private Partnership (PPP) from local, national and international developers.
The broad scope of work of the bidder would include financing the total project cost, construction of the truck terminal, and operation and maintenance of the developed facilities.
“The terminals will be built on PPP mode to reduce accidents and fatalities due to on-road parking, make the best and most effective use of resources and provide the best of its class facilities for parking heavy vehicles,” said Additional Transport Commissioner (Road Safety) Lalmohan Sethi.
The facilities will also provide direct and indirect employment besides encouraging redevelopment of neighbourhoods and fostering economic growth, he added.
Notably, nearly 25 per cent of 5,081 accident fatalities in 2021 were due to collision of vehicles with illegally parked trucks on the highways.
(With inputs from PTI and TNIE)
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