BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday launched Shree Jagannath Express bus service to facilitate transportation of people from all districts of Odisha to the holy town. A day after opening the Srimandir Parikrama Prakalpa or the Temple Heritage Corridor in Puri, the bus service was launched under the Odisha government's ambitious public transportation programme--Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative (LAccMI), the CMO said.
As many as 80 super premium express buses will run from 30 districts of the state to Puri via Bhubaneswar under the programme. In the first phase, the CM has virtually flagged off the bus service from 12 district headquarters today. These districts are Balangir, Bargarh, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundergarh.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that his government has started this express bus service for the people of the state to visit Puri Dham and get the blessings of the Lord Jagannath. He appealed to the people of Odisha to take advantage of this initiative.
Patnaik further said the women passengers in the Shree Jagannath Express will have to pay only 50 per cent of the total fare.
He further said that the Parikrama project was inaugurated yesterday as per the wishes of Lord Jagannath. The project has enhanced the beauty of the temple and made the environment more devotional. Facilities are arranged for devotees to have smooth darshan of the deities.