Aradi: Low quality of work resulted in a 30 feet long and one foot deep crack Wednesday afternoon on a patch of NH-20 stretching from Sathibankuda to Bodaka area of Olaga panchayat under Chandbali block of Bhadrak, hundreds of locals alleged Thursday.
The stretch of the national highway, which is also an embankment of Baitarani River, has gone down for several times in seven years.
Despite the fact that repair of the patch of road is being carried out every year and lakhs of rupees are being spent in this regard, the particular stretch keeps on sinking. Around two years ago, a team of experts had visited the location and tested the soil. Accordingly, it had advised the department officials concerned, the locals added.
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A source said that the road had earlier sinked during flood in 2020 and was repaired by a contract firm, but was of little use. Hundreds of light and heavy vehicles ply through this route every day, which connects Aradi in Bhadrak district with Cuttack and Bhubaneswar via Jajpur. Road connectivity frequently gets disrupted due to sinkages.
“Baitarani River embankment road has gone down and also caved in for several times since 2015. Low-quality of the repair works should be investigated,” former local sarpanch Kishore Kumar Nayak said.
On being contacted, the department junior engineer Subhasmita Pani said, “The embankment is going down times and again for being hit by Baitarani river water. One more dyke is required to be constructed in this area, which would entail huge funding.”
PNN