Bhubaneswar: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Sunday claimed that the long-awaited flyover project at Khandgiri Square would be completed before November 2019, as the central body is set to start the works.
The nodal agency for NHs in the state claimed that there had been numerous reports of accidents at the Khandgiri junction and the process of constructing the flyover is all set to kick off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays foundation stone for the project.
“We are all set to embark on our work. We have held several rounds of meetings with the Development Commissioner here on the issue. We have asked for a diversion route of the NH stretch near Khandgiri to start our work. As soon as we get the permission from the state and the route diversion plan is approved, we will start out work,” said RP Panda, regional manager of the NHAI in Odisha.
When asked for further details, A K Singh, member (Projects) of the NHAI, said that now the only bottleneck is the diversion route. “We have already worked out the diversion route from the left side and barricading works have also started. We assure you that once we get the diversion route activated the flyover will be constructed at a speedy pace and we can complete the project before November next year.”
The NHAI admitted that there were numerous reports of accidents at the spot and the Ministry of Road Transport had also identified the site as a black spot (accident prone area) and opined that such a structure would help in minimizing accidents and ensuring smooth flow of traffic.
The NHAI officials also said that with the laying of foundation for four important projects in Odisha by the Prime Minister Monday, the overall network of the NHs and its widening would be expanded. The NHAI also accepted that there had been delays on many NH expansions mainly due to delay in land acquisition and obtaining required approvals from different authorities to expand the road network in the state.