Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday announced at a meeting that the Odisha government will build 500km of disaster-resilient roads in the state over the next five years.
The roads will cost ₹1,000 crore and be built under a new scheme, namely the “Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana-Disaster Resilient Roads” scheme.
The stretch is supposed to be durable enough to withstand damage with minimal maintenance. The state government has also decided to focus on improving the health infrastructure in the state at the cabinet meeting.
Under the new scheme, the roads will be built over the next five years, starting from 2025-26 to 2029-30. “The main objective is to build resilient road infrastructure to ensure minimal disruption in connectivity during and after disasters, enabling unhindered access to emergency operational services in disaster-affected areas of the state,” chief secretary Manoj Ahuja said.
Odisha faces extensive damage to its road infrastructure during floods. The new scheme aims to fix this. The engineering department will elevate road embankments above flood levels, construct a protection wall and stone pitching to prevent erosion, and ensure sufficient cross-drainage structures for proper floodwater drainage.
It also plans to replace the submersible bridges with high-level ones.
