Orissa High Court Allows Holding Of Bali Jatra At Both Upper And Lower Grounds, Orders Regular Breath Analyser Test For 'MoBus' Drivers

The Orissa High Court last week allowed the Cuttack district administration to organize the historic Bali Jatra at both the upper as well as lower Bali Jatra grounds scheduled to be held between November 15-22.

While hearing a PIL petition concerning the civic issues pertaining to Cuttack a division bench of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice V. Narasingh in its November 7 order said, "After carefully going through the affidavits filed by the authorities and hearing them and the learned counsel, we are of the humble view that in view of the order passed by the learned National Green Tribunal and particularly the registration/allotment of stalls in the Upper Balijatra Padia which was done  prior to the passing of the order dated 30.10.2024, let Balijatra, 2024 be held in Upper Balijatra Padia so also Lower Balijatra Padia".

The court however directed the city's District Administration to ensure "Ambulance, Fire Brigade, Water and Power Supply and other essential service vehicles" to pass smoothly without any kind of hindrance on the Ring Road as well as on all the approach roads to Balijatra Ground during the Festival.

It said that Physical verification and spot analysis of all the major routes leading to Balijatra and static spots are to be chalked out and final blue print and crowd management must be prepared.

"The primary and alternate routes for the people to enter and exit Balijatra should be taken care of which would help crowd management. There must be proper planning to ensure smooth flow of people in peak hours...The Collector, D.C.P. and other Govt. Servants who have filed affidavits before this Court and assured this Court to coordinate with each other for organizing Balijatra smoothly. This Court hopes that they shall live upto the expectations of the people and shall carry out their duties and commitments diligently," the court said. 

On October 30 the Court had suggested the district administration to refrain from allocating lands to different vendors for installation of stalls at upper ground, taking into account crowd and traffic management as the ring road lies between both the grounds.

Thus, the Bench had asked the district authorities to consider shifting of all the stalls from upper ground to lower ground especially having regard for the fact that uncontrollable rush happens during the peak hours of evenings in the ring road, which often creates stampede like situation and even hinders movement of emergency vehicles like ambulance.

Accordingly, the Collector, Cuttack was directed to hold a meeting with all the stakeholders to discuss about the shifting of facilities from upper ground to lower ground. After the meeting, the Collector filed an affidavit stating therein that it is not feasible to shift the facilities as suggested by the High Court.

The top administrator of the district also stated that as the auction for the plots of upper ground is already complete and the vendors have almost started installing their stalls, it is impossible to relocate them to the lower ground.

Further, the Court was also apprised about the order of National Green Tribunal (NGT) which had ordered the authorities to confine the event to 34 acres of lower ground which situates on the bank of Mahanadi.

The Collector, furthermore, informed the Court that the lower ground has reached its maximum capacity of 34 acres and no scope remains for relocation of hundreds of stall from the upper ground.

However, he assured that there would be a smooth movement of traffic, especially the emergency vehicles, as a 'green corridor' has been created for such purpose.

Mr. Bijay Kumar Dash, President of High Court Bar Association filed a report indicating availability of space in the lower ground to shift the facilities from the upper ground, but the Collector denied the veracity of such report. Nonetheless, he assured that no inconvenience will be caused to students of different educational institutions commuting through that route.

He also informed the Court that necessary permission shall be obtained from the NGT to shift all events, which are held throughout the year, at upper ground to the lower ground so as to avoid disturbances to the public.

Reckless Driving By MoBus Drivers

The Court's attention was drawn to reckless and slapdash driving by drivers of MoBuses, a government-owned public transport. It was informed that due to careless and risky driving by the drivers, there have been almost 200 accidents cases in 2024. Recently, a lady was killed by a speeding MoBus near Bus Terminal of Cuttack.

Mr. Janmejay Katikia, Advocate appearing for the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), the organization which is in-charge of MoBuses, submitted that speed limit has been reduced to 50 to 40 KMPH for diesel buses and 50 to 35 KMPH for electric buses. He also stated that strict actions have been taken against erring drivers, including cancellation of their licenses.

But the Bench was dissatisfied by submission and observed that the nature of checking is not clear and quality of training that is imparted to the drivers is also "shrouded in mystery" for which 'MoBus' services have become dangerous and public is terrified by such buses.

The high court then directed CRUT to "adopt major road safety measures including comprehensive insurance coverage" for all the buses and it was ordered to place on record such insurance policy by way of an affidavit by the next date of hearing.

It was further ordered that the affidavit must disclose the financial details of the agreement between CRUT and the agency running 'MoBus' service and the details should include the following:

• The contract amount payable by the agency to CRUT - monthly/quarterly/annually, as the
• case may be;
• The minimum daily target set (distance in kilometres) for each driver by the Agency;
• The rationale/basis/logic based on which such targets are set;
• The incentive over and above wages of each driver for achieving/exceeding the target given;
• Whether the Agency was awarded the contract through open tender;
• To what extent CRUT has control over the Agency in case of any incident/mishap or otherwise and to regulate their operations.

Above all, the Court ordered 'breathe analyser test' for all the drivers of MoBuses plying in Cuttack region for detection of alcohol consumption. Such tests shall not only be held at the starting point but also randomly in the midway so as to prevent the probable accidents from drunken driving.

"Since there are two types of 'Mo Buses' plying in Cuttack City, let the CRUT authorities take immediate steps to see that smaller buses run inside the town and bigger size buses on the ring road and the drivers should not be asked to work for more than 8 hours a day under any circumstances, which is likely to reduce the rate of accidents," it added.  

Case Title: Registrar (Judicial), Orissa High Court, Cuttack v. State of Odisha & Ors.

Case No: W.P.(C) No. 2140 of 2020

Date of Order: November 07, 2024

Counsel for the Petitioner: Er. N.K. Mohanty, Amicus Curiae

Counsel for the Respondents: Mr. Debasis Nayak-A, Addl. Govt. Advocate & Advocate for CMC; Mr. Partha Sarathi Nayak, Addl. Govt. Advocate; Mr. Bijay Kumar Dash, Advocate & President of Orissa High Court Bar Association; Mr. Janmejay Katikia, Counsel for CRUT

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