According to reports, the two private bus owners associations are embroiled in a long-standing dispute over the arrival and departure schedule. Though the police have earlier managed to settle their dispute amicably, the decision taken at the meeting is not being implemented in letter and spirit.
The dispute between the two associations intensified on Tuesday after the members of the Bhubaneswar private bus owners’ association detained two Bhubaneswar-bound buses from Puri at Kalpana Square in the morning and forcibly asked them to return to Puri.
Following the incident, Puri bus owners have stopped all Puri-bound buses from Bhubaneswar. “The owners of the Bhubaneswar Private Bus Association do not give us time to pick up passengers from the Baramunda Bus Stand up to Kalpana Square. As a result, we have sustained a huge loss. Though there has been a series of meeting to resolve the issue, they have remained adamant and harassing us,” secretary of Puri Private Bus Owners’ Association, Lokanath Pani told mediapersons.
Bhubaneswar Bus Owners’ Association secretary Barada Prasanna Acharya said as the Puri Private Bus Owners’ Association has detained 18 buses of Bhubaneswar since the last 3 days, the Bhubaneswar Bus Owners’ Association has stopped plying of buses to Puri from Tuesday. While 65 buses from Puri to Bhubaneswar and 75 buses from Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to Puri ply every day, the stoppage of bus service to these destinations has worsened the plight of thousands of passengers.