Joda: The State Highway-2 (SH-2) from Jurudi to Bamebari Road in Keonjhar district is in bad shape.
It is the lifeline for transporting mineral ores from the Joda mining circle. However, incomplete land acquisition, utility poles and underground pipelines have affected repair and expansion work on the highway.
The road is full of craters and is a nightmare to motorists, bikers and truckers ferrying mineral ores. Thousands of heavy vehicles transporting mineral ores ply on this route, but the road has not been repaired. As a result, accidents are routine on this route.
The state government had awarded the contract to repair the road to a contract firm, but work has been going on at a snail’s pace. The daily transportation of mineral ores is creating tremendous dust pollution in the area as the road is in a bad shape.
A stretch of the road from Bamebari to Bansapani is full of stone chips leading to accidents. As reconstruction gets delayed dust pollution has become acute in roadside villages like Jajanga, Jurudi, Jalhari, Palasa and Kalimati and Jhumpura, it was learnt.
Himansu Choudhary, a junior engineer working for the construction company, said Rs 47 crore had been sanctioned from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund for reconstruction of the 13-km stretch from Bamebari to Bansapani.
“The company has signed an agreement with the public works department to complete work on the road by 2020. But only 50 per cent of the work has been completed so far,” he added.
Pointing out reasons for the delay, he said that utility poles from the sides of the road have not been removed, and the district administration has not completed land acquisition for widening the road.
At some places trees have to be felled to make space for the road and pipelines will have to be shifted, he added.
PNN