Vehicles negotiate potholes at Professorpara and (right) Sagadia Sahi in Cuttack. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Sept. 7: Road woes continue to trouble residents of Cuttack.

Delay in the execution of repair work of a major road at Professorpara under ward No. 27 of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation has sparked off resentment among people.

Local residents allege that it has been over five years that no concrete measures have been taken by the civic body to repair the major thoroughfare in the city.

However, local councillor Laxmipriya Samantray also admitted there was a delay and said repair work for the road was likely to begin within a couple of days.

“The tender process is already complete and the work order for the project has been issued. We hope that the repair work will begin shortly and will cost around Rs 7 lakh,” said Samantray.

The Professorpara road acts as a connecting link between Bajrakabati, Ranihat and College Square areas. Besides this, hundreds of commuters also depend on the road to travel towards Malgodown, Chhatrabazar from Jobra and College Square sides.

“Despite being one of major thoroughfares, the civic body has not taken any step towards repair of the road, which is causing inconvenience to the residents here,” said Umesh Sahu, a local resident.

Sahu said craters dotted the entire stretch of road from Bajrakabati canal roadside up to Ranihat via Professorpara. The civic body should immediately repair the road as the festive season is round the corner.

A lot of commuters also depend on the road to travel towards OMP and National Highway 5 to avoid the rush on busy main road at Ranihat.

“The condition of road has deteriorated in the last couple of months. The problem gets compounded during the rainy season as it is difficult to distinguish between the road and the water-filled craters,” said Kishore Swain, a commuter.

Because of the bad road conditions, the traffic at Professorpara also moves at a snail’s pace. Unrestricted entry of autorikshaws has also compounded the miseries of the commuters.

Apart from Professorpara, the condition of the existing road at Sagadia Sahi is also in bad shape. A commuter has to travel through the road to move towards Mangalabag, Ranihat and College Square from Bajrakabati and Professorpara area side.

Local councillor Laxmipriya Samantray said as Sagadia Sahi road was being maintained by the irrigation department, they would soon take up the issue with concerned officials for repair work to start immediately.