For the last four years, the authorities in Bhubaneswar have been looking for land to build the proposed Transport Nagar. However, according to official sources, the land has yet to be identified.
In 2018, the transport department requested that the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) identify at least 100 acres of land on the city’s outskirts for the much-anticipated Transport Nagar or Logistic Park project.
The Odisha government intends to build the Transport Nagar or Logistic Park project in Bhubaneswar to accommodate heavy vehicles and alleviate traffic congestion on the city’s major roads.
The proposed Transport Nagar will house transporter offices and godowns, workshops, spare parts shops, diesel pumps, weighbridges, ATMs, a dormitory, a 24 hour ambulance service, a security and police outpost, a hotel and restaurants, and so on.
Furthermore, the Transport Nagar can accommodate all heavy vehicles, thereby reducing congestion on the National Highways.
Small and permissible trucks that can enter the city limits can transport goods from Transport Nagar to market points, avoiding city traffic congestion.
In 2018, a 100-acre patch near Chandaka was identified, but the project was unable to proceed due to local opposition. For the last four years, neither the BDA nor the IDCO has shown any interest in identifying land for the proposed project.
When asked about the project’s status, a senior official from the transportation department stated that he was not aware of such a project by the department.
Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar Goods Transport Association president Niranjan Praharaj stated that, aside from Odisha, almost every state has logistic parks and truck terminals. He urged the government to expedite the logistics park’s construction.
According to the association, there are over 1 lakh trucks in Odisha, with approximately 10,000 trucks passing through the state. Similarly, 500-1000 trucks arrive in Bhubaneswar every day from other states.
Prasanta Patnaik