Signs of neglect: Poor condition of the road connecting NH-5 with Dumduma residential colony. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 22: Councillor of ward No. 60 Kartika Sundaray was gheraoed by a group of local residents last evening when two women scooter riders were injured near the Diabetic Hospital Square in Dumduma because of bad road conditions. The proposed road innovation work in the ward is pending since last six months without any progress.

Though the injured were discharged from a nearby clinic after several hours of treatment, local residents were angry as in a month five accidents took place on the stretch between NH-5 and Jadupur.

They also protested against the inordinate delay by the public works department (PWD) in starting the Rs 2.4crore road construction project for the 2.15-km stretch.

Sundaray said chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone for the project on December 10, but it took almost six months to start the work despite administrative sanction.

The contractor had started work on the stretch but the job hardly moved.

“I have asked the authorities of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the mayor had a word with senior PWD officials, but the work is still pending,’’ said the councillor.

As construction activities around the ward is in full swing, trucks are plying in large numbers on the road. As a huge apartment complex is coming up in the area, trucks are carrying excavated materials for dumping in the nearby low-lying areas and pits. These activities also affect the road condition and local residents are suffering for that.

The renovated road connecting NH-5 and Mumtaz Ali High School in Jadupur will help more than 50,000 people of Dumduma village, five phases of Dumduma housing board colonies, Jadupur and nearby areas.

One of the oldest colonies developed by the Orissa State Housing Board (OSHB), Dumduma area has turned into a major housing hub with more than 5,000 houses. Of these, nearly 3,000 were being converted into two or three-storeyed structures.

However, the population in the area has risen but basic services such as roads, lights, drains and pipe-water supply are yet to be provided to all parts of these five colonies.

“The proposed road passing through the diabetes institute up to the high school in Jadupur will fulfil the long-standing demands of local residents as the present road is full of potholes,’’ said Ramesh Chandra Patra, who owns a pathological laboratory in Dumduma.

PWD officials said the road was planned to be divided in two parts. The stretch from Dumduma Square to the autorickshaw stand would be four-laned with footpath, drains and a median with lighting poles.

The stretch from the autorickshaw stand to Mumtaz Ali High School would have two lanes. Therefore, while the 300-metre stretch will be four-lanes, the rest of the 1,850 metres will be of two-lanes.

PWD executive engineer division II (roads) Ranjit Sahu said: “The contractor had started the work, but now he doesn’t respond to our correspondences and queries. We have decided to take action against him but it cannot be done in haste as procedures are laid down as to what should be done to a contractor who had already started a work. We have also decided to fine him for the delay.’’