Bus Owners Call Off Proposed Strike From Jan 1 On Cuttack-Sambalpur Route In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The proposed strike by private bus owners has been put on hold for now. The strike had been planned by the Private Bus Owners’ Association from January 1, under which it had been decided to stop plying buses on the Cuttack-Sambalpur NH-55.

The decision to suspend the strike comes after a high-level meeting between the state Transport Department, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the association here on Wednesday evening.

Protesting the deplorable condition of NH-55 stretch between Manguli in Cuttack to Sambalpur, the association had suspended services on the route from 6 am to 12 midnight on December 23 as a token to the larger agitation.

“NHAI officials have assured us that the repair work from Angul to Manguli will be completed by January 20 and construction work by June 2022 so that buses and trucks can smoothly ply on the route. Therefore, we have kept the agitation of January 1 on hold and buses will continue to ply normally on the route,” association secretary Debendra Sahu said.