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| Road expansion work remains stalled at Rajmahal Square as electric poles and transformers are yet to be relocated. Picture by Ashwinee Pati |
Bhubaneswar, Jan. 27: Inordinate delay in the relocation of electricity utilities along the roads of the capital has affected road expansion projects at various points.
Though an official of the roads and buildings division of the public works department (PWD) said they had deposited the requisite amount of money for the purpose, the Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) has hardly made any efforts to step up the relocation work.
As a result, road expansion work has taken a bask seat on the stretch between Rajmahal Square and Master Canteen Square, Ravi Talkies-Tankapani Road and Odisha State Housing Board Square and Ram Mandir Square.
Work on turning the road into eight lanes from Master Canteen Square to Rajmahal Square, which started in May at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore, is yet to be completed. For the expansion work on this route, the roads and buildings division-I had deposited the requisite money in October 2009.
The situation is similar on two other stretches of road where electric poles haven’t been relocated. Following procedure, before undertaking any expansion project, the roads and buildings division has to deposit a fixed amount of money for relocation of electricity utilities with the Cesu. It also has to deposit money for shifting of water supply lines with the public health engineering organisation and for felling trees with the forest department.
An official source in the roads and buildings division said the delay had also resulted in escalation of project costs. “We have approached the Cesu officials several times to expedite the relocation process. But, nothing has been done so far,” said a senior official of roads and buildings division-I.
There is also a proposal for underground laying of electricity lines on the stretch between OSHB Square and Ram Mandir Square to save the trees around Exhibition Ground from being felled.
The project, however, is progressing very slowly. The road was supposed to turned into four lanes and work had started on this last year. But work on this is yet to be completed.
Consequently, traffic has become chaotic at these junctions. “Traffic is in a mess because of the road expansion work. The authorities concerned need to expedite the process to ease the traffic flow,” said Mamta Barik, a government employee. However, Cesu officials said the work would be completed at the earliest. “We will have a review meeting on January 31 to take decisions in this regard,” said Niranjan Swain, general manager of Cesu.
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