Road repair works on in Cuttack on Friday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 4: The civic body is racing against time to repair and spruce up roads here before the Dussehra, which is now less than a week away.

On August 26, Orissa High Court had set September end as the pre-Dussehra deadline for completion of all road repair works while monitoring civic problems in the city as part of adjudication of PILs.

However, at the district administration’s meeting held on September 24 to discuss Durga Puja preparations, the issue of poor roads took centre stage.

Most of the Puja committees participating in the meeting had demanded immediate repair of roads in their localities.

“Improvement in the present condition of roads is essential for a smooth Durga Puja in the city, especially in view of the increase in volume of traffic. When the idols of 150-odd Puja mandaps across the city are taken in a procession for immersion, the condition of the roads become all the more vital,” said Surya Kanta Sangneria, president of Balu Bazar Binod Behari Puja Committee.

There had been virtually no improvement in the condition of roads, including some of the busiest and main thoroughfares.

“The condition of the roads have deteriorated from bad to worse because of lack of maintenance and repair initiatives by the municipal corporation,” said Satyajit Roy, a resident of Bidanasi.

Around 425km of road within the limits of the city are under the control of the corporation.

“Work was delayed mainly because of incessant rainfall. But, we have already started repairing the roads. We hope to be able to complete repair work on all roads by October 9,” mayor Saumendra Ghose told The Telegraph today.

“The corporation has given Rs 2 lakh to each of its 54 wards in the city for repairing roads before the Puja,” the mayor said.

The high court had set the pre-Dussehra deadline after the members of the bar alleged that “in spite of repeated orders, no work has commenced for repair or reconstruction of the roads”.

In its order on August 26, the division bench of Justice Madan Mohan Das and Justice Indrajit Mahanty said: “We issue a direction to the principal secretary of the urban and housing development department to seriously look into the matter and take appropriate measures so that all the roads of Markat Nagar developed by the Cuttack Development Authority and the lanes and by-lanes as well as the main roads of the city are repaired by the end of September, 2013.”

“The municipal corporation is required to maintain the roads under its jurisdiction in proper condition so that city residents do not face inconvenience because of the damaged roads,” the bench had said.