Bhubaneswar: The demand for a foot over bridge (FOB) rose again as two persons including a woman were killed by a speeding truck at Palasuni Square Wednesday. As per reports, the accident took place when a truck hurtling towards Cuttack mowed down the two as they were crossing the road. While the body of the woman was found on the spot, the vehicle dragged the man’s body for around one kilometre.
The deceased were identified as Umesh Prasad Panigrahi and Nalini Panigrahi of Gandabahal Ullunda, Sonepur. According to sources, the couple was crossing from one side to another, when a speeding truck coming from Vani Vihar knocked them down near Palasuni. The woman died instantaneously.
As the man got trapped under the vehicle, the onlookers desperately shouted at the driver to apply brakes but in vain. Later, the man’s mutilated body was found near Satya Vihar. Speaking on the incident, Narayan Prusty, a social activist, said the residents of Palasuni area have been voicing for a FOB for several years but the authorities remained unresponsive.
Recently, several Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) corporators wrote to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of a FOB at Palasuni at the earliest. “Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi had also promised that a FOB over national highway 16 would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore but so far no action has been taken in this regard,” sources said.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
