London-famed open roof buses to be introduced soon: Suvendu Adhikari

Kolkata: The state government will introduce London-famed open roof buses in the city, state Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Saturday.

The minister also inaugurated a bus terminal at Piyali in Baruipur in South 24-Parganas on Saturday afternoon. Interestingly, Baruipur is presently coming up as the headquarters of the South 24-Parganas.

He said five such buses would be introduced in the financial year.

Adhikari said the state Transport department would deploy 200 modern launches by September and state-of-the-art jetties would come up in different areas including the Sunderbans.

He said the pink cabs which are being driven by women drivers created great enthusiasm among the female folk, both drivers and passengers alike. Under the 'Gatidhara' project, vehicles have been given to 36,000 unemployed youths so far, he said.

Adhikari also mentioned that the state Transport department would assist the police to improve traffic management in Baruipur under the "Safe Drive Save Life" scheme.

The minister further maintained that if the municipality and Panchayat could provide one acre land, then a

bio-diversity park would also be set up in the region.

The bus terminus has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2.10 crore. The total area of the land is around 1.64 acres of which .58 acres has been used to set up the terminus. Adhikari flagged off seven routes from Baruipur.

The buses will ply to Dakshineshwar, Digha, Moulali, Science City and Shyambazar.

An E-bus will ply up to Karunamoyee in Salt Lake as well. He said a Volvo bus up

to Siliguri will also be introduced soon. The terminus can accommodate around 25 to 30 buses.