Bus strike called off in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association (AOPBOA) has called off their indefinite strike after the State government agreed to fulfill the association’s demands.

The association Spokesperson Debasish Nayak confirmed the news soon after the General Council meeting this afternoon.

“The governmnet has agreed to fulfill almost all our demands. Therefore, we have decided to call off the strike,” Nayak said.

Speaking on their demand to stop plying of city buses on long routes, he said the governmnet will form a high-level committee in this regard and will take a decision on the basis of the report within three months.

The association earlier in the day alleged that the city buses are a major threat to the private buses since the government has also allowed them to operate on the cities outskirts.

Since morning, passengers and daily commuters suffered immense inconvenience in Odisha on Wednesday as more than 17,000 private buses remained off the roads due to a strike by their association over several demands.

State Transport Minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu, Transport Minister Niranjan Pujari among other officials were present in the meeting.