Cuttack, Oct 28: All Odisha Private Bus Owners' Association has claimed that they are running 14,000 buses in the state while the State Transport Authority (STA) has a record of 8,000 buses. Thus, around 6,000 buses are plying without registration and route permit.
This came to fore after a dispute erupted between All Odisha Private Bus Owners' Association opposing the plying of state-run buses on certain routes under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme
We have ordered for scrutiny of the number of private buses plying in the state. Documents of all buses will be verified to identify the buses plying illegally and action will be taken against the errant owners, said a senior official of STA.
On October 20, the private bus operators went on a strike and called off their agitation later in the day after discussion with the government.
The association claimed that the LAccMI scheme, which is aimed at connecting all gram panchayats of the state, will affect their livlihoods of private bus operators.
The association members had a discussion with the government on Thursday but failed to bring a solution. The strike is suspended only till October 31. We have submitted our demands and the government has assured us to come up with a resolution by Friday, said the operators.
