Public transport to be hit hard in Red zone

Berhampur: Public transportation in southern Odisha will be hit from Tuesday, the beginning of the Martyrs' Week. The state-owned Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has decided not to run its buses in the Red-hit areas of Gajapati, Malkanagiri, Koraput, Nabarangapur, Rayagada and Phulbani districts from Monday night.
"All the buses of the OSRTC via Gumuda in Rayagada district will be cancelled from Monday evening.The restriction will continue till August 3, the end of the Martyrs' Week," said the corporation's divisional transport manager (Berhampur) Amiya Kumar Mishra.
While 15 long-route Malkanagiri and Koraput-bound buses from different places, including Berhampur, Bhanjanagar, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, will be cancelled, the corporation's four units in Rayagada, Koraput, Malkanagiri and Nabarangapur will also not run buses during the period, he said.
The Left-wing extremists have already appealed to the people, through posters, not to hold up public transport during the period. Police seized some posters from different places on Sunday.
"We have decided to stop plying of buses to avoid any untoward incident. The rebels had set ablaze four OSRTC buses at Raipanka in Gajapati district on December 27, 2009," he said.
The private operators, running long-route buses, may stop the operations during the period. "We are observing the situation," said a private bus operator here.