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| Vehicles negotiate potholes at Vani Vihar Square in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati |
Bhubaneswar, Aug. 1: Several arterial roads in the city are taking off from the National Highway 5 at different points. But a number of service roads near these under-construction flyovers are in bad shape. This leads to not only traffic chaos, but also accidents.
Public works department (PWD) officials said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was responsible for the roads near overbridges. However, NHAI officials passed the buck on to the private agency building the flyover.
Rasulgarh Square
On July 29, two persons were killed and another was injured when a truck rammed into their motorcycles at Rasulgarh Square. Last week, two motorcycles collided with each other at Fire Station Square while trying to avoid potholes under the flyover being built there.
Residents of Rasulgarh said accidents had become a daily affair at the square due to the tardy construction work, coupled with poorly maintained service roads and arterial roads in the area.
“After every shower, the square becomes muddy with potholes and craters filled with rainwater. Motorists have to be really careful while driving through the area,” said Anam Patra, a grocer.
Fire Station Square
At Fire Station Square, the arterial road from the Baramunda Housing Board colony side has been left without repair around 10 metres from the overbridge construction site. This small patch is filled with potholes and craters and commuters here face a lot of problems negotiating this road.
Local residents and traders said they witnessed accidents everyday around here. “While returning to my Jagannath Vihar home recently, my scooter skidded here and I took a bad fall. I do not know why the authorities do not repair the road,” said Somnath Dehury, a state government employee, who regularly passes through this square.
CRPF Square
At CRPF Square, the authorities have marked a huge crater so that people drive around it. Narrow service roads, combined with such huge potholes at many places have been creating problem for commuters, but the authorities seem the least worried.
Accident zones
Police sources said that on an average, 15 small or big accidents occurred everyday near these squares, but few people come to the police station.
PWD officials said the arterial roads on both sides of the NH-5 belonged to them and they had repaired most of these roads.
“The portion of the road near Fire Station Square comes under the NHAI. It’s their responsibility to repair the road. Our roads are well-maintained,” said Bijan Behera, chief engineer, roads.
However, NHAI authorities refused to comment on anything related to their projects. But, a senior officer said the Shree Jagannath Expressways Private Limited (SJEPL) was the consigner of this road and they were responsible for the problems faced by the public. However, SJEPL authorities refused to comment.
People complained that even traffic marshals deployed by the construction company add to their woes at these squares. They have minimum knowledge of traffic management and fail to signal properly. There are over 60 traffic marshals deployed at these traffic squares by the construction company to help traffic cops.
“During peak hours, we have to wait for more than 15 minutes at each of these traffic squares,” said Suman Mishra of Gajapati Nagar.