The state-owned Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has suffered huge losses as its inter-state bus service has been hit by the ongoing Samaikyandhra strike in Andhra Pradesh.
As many as 64 buses in 32 routes under the OSRTC's Berhampur division have diverted their routes to avoid entering bandh-hit areas of Andhra Pradesh. The buses are not plying on their previous routes from August 12 as the agitators in Andhra detained the inter-state Odisha buses, said OSRTC divisional manager (Berhampur), Lala Ashok Kumar Ray
The loss of the corporation's Berhampur division is calculated at Rs 2.75-crore during this period. The total loss of the state-owned corporation might be higher than this amount when the loss of the other routes of different divisions like Angul, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar etc, are taken into account.
The Samaikyandhra strike was launched on August 12 against the Centre's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh and form Telengana.
