Sambalpur: Completion of a flyover to ease traffic problem in this town has run into problem with land acquisition posing serious bottlenecks in construction of its service road, a report said.
The Works department had planned to complete the project by December this year. However, with uncertainty plaguing the service road construction works it does not seem that the bridge work will get completed anytime soon.
The bridge work started four years back but the department has failed to make any headway in land acquisition on both sides of the bridge for construction of the service road. As a result, residents have to face a lot of problems while commuting on the road. This has only deteriorated the traffic condition in the town and sparked resentment among the residents.
Residents alleged that the authorities of the Works department are only evicting roadside hotels, small vendors, hawkers to make space for construction of the service road but have failed to acquire 15 decimal of private lands on both sides of the flyover bridge.
Notably, construction of the flyover connecting Dhuchurapada Square to Kacheri Square was started February, 12, 2016. It was planned to get completed by May 11, 2017. The initial plan outlay was Rs66.38 crore but is expected to go up by the time it will be completed, sources said. The flyover of 1.880 mtr in length will stand on 51 columns ranging from 5 mtr to 15 mtr.
A point to be noted here is that the flyover is being constructed by the consultancy agency which was involved in the Bomikhal flyover bridge construction in Bhubaneswar. The Bomikhal flyover bridge had collapsed during construction leading to the death of a person and severe injuries of others. This is the reason for which the Sambalpur flyover bridge works was shelved for six months.
The residents alleged that the department except pulling down the compound walls of district collectorate, RDC office, Akashvani, DIG office, Reserve police, residential bungalow, head post office, Town hall ground and Town police station, Mahanadi Club has failed to acquire the private lands required for construction of the service road.
The department has failed to proceed further except issuing notice to the land owners and holding discussion with them. Sources said that the administration fears to undertake any move as the private lands identified for the purpose are owned by influential and political persons.
Residents claimed that the administration is only laying stress on completion of the flyover and pulling up the implementing agency to finish the work within deadline. However, if the service road is not constructed then the flyover will not serve any purpose for which it was constructed.
When contacted, executive engineer, Bijay Mohanty, said, “A plan was ready to complete the construction works by December-end. The work was stopped for the last six months due to Covid enforced lockdown but resumed recently after the government lifted the restrictions.” He added that labourers have been hired from other states to finish the work within the deadline after the lockdown was lifted.
PNN