Raipur
Chhattisgarh will soon have direct bus services to Ujjain, Mathura, Kashi, and Ayodhya. The Vishnudeo Sai government has signed an MoU with Madhya Pradesh to operate buses on 53 new routes. In addition, the state will sign MoUs with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra for new routes as well.
According to officials from the Chhattisgarh Transport Department, passenger buses will soon start operating on 53 new routes between various cities of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
The Chief Minister participated in the programme held at a private hotel in Raipur. Permits will be issued once reports are received.
Permits will be issued after surveying identified routes, the number of existing vehicles, time schedules, and after receiving reports from the RTO of the concerned district. Additionally, claims and objections will be heard and resolved. This initiative had been ongoing for a long time due to the high number of passengers traveling between the two states.
A meeting between the transport officials of both states was recently held to discuss new bus routes between Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. According to the officials, this was the first such meeting in 17 years, resulting in an agreement to operate buses on 53 new routes.
Under the interstate agreement, these passenger buses will run between various cities and rural areas of both states.
Buses will operate between Raipur and major districts of Madhya Pradesh such as Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Mandla, and others. The buses will connect key cities like Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Jagdalpur, Kanker, and Dhamtari in Chhattisgarh with Madhya Pradesh.
Currently, buses run from Raipur to Jabalpur, Chhindwara, Rewa, Satna, Maihar, and other cities. The introduction of new routes will provide relief to travelers from both states.
Discussions are also underway between transport officials from Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh for bus routes to Banaras, Mathura, Ayodhya, Kanpur, and from Raipur to Pune in Maharashtra. This will benefit passengers from all three states and generate revenue for the state government.
Currently, buses run from Raipur to Chhindwara via Kawardha and Rajnandgaon. Once an agreement is reached, buses will also run via Sanver from Nagpur, connecting three major cities for the benefit of passengers.
A state transport authority has been established to oversee the expansion of interstate bus services. This authority reviews bus capacity, fares, and available services while hearing permit applications. Operations will be approved once all standards are met.
During the agreements with other states, officials have to coordinate between government and private vehicles to balance permit fees.
Currently, direct buses to neighboring state capitals operate from Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Ambikapur, and Raigarh. Bus services are available to Mumbai in Maharashtra, Hyderabad in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Patna in Bihar, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, and Ranchi in Jharkhand.
Additional Transport Commissioner D. Ravishankar, said that MoUs are being signed with different states to provide better transportation services to the public. Currently, an MoU has been signed with Madhya Pradesh to operate buses on 53 new routes.
Talks are ongoing with Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra to start new bus routes. In the coming days, passengers will have easy access to direct buses to destinations like Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura, Ujjain, and Shirdi.
