Demolition drive on Aska Road. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, July 1: The city got a wider passage on the crowded stretch of the NH-217 that connects Gopalpur beach town with Raipur in Chhattisgarh following an eviction drive, undertaken to clear the roadside encroachments in Aska Road area.

Two platoons of armed police forces were deployed to prevent any untoward incident during the demolition drive.

The minimum width stipulated for the 222-km stretch highway from Gopalpur in Ganjam district to Tumudibandh in Kandhamal district was 10 metres.

According to the executive engineer of the Berhampur NH division, they have already taken up the work of widening the highway to at least 10 metres.

Though the widening work has been complete on the 150-km stretch between Gopalpur and Tumudibandh, the work on the 12-km stretch that passes through Berhampur city has been affected due to encroachments at several points.

There are portions inside the city where the width of the road has been reduced to six or seven meters due to encroachments. Efforts were on to make the uniform width of the NH inside the city to at least 10 metres and construct drains.

“I had reviewed the situation earlier. Though the widening work is going on, the construction of drains on the roadside is still to be carried out and we will expedite the process. Some even constructed their illegal structures on the space meant for the drains,” said Ramkrushna Maharana, executive engineer of the Berhampur NH division.

Most city dwellers welcomed this anti-encroachment drive as Aska Road area had become a major constraint for traffic on the highway. Efforts are also on to streamline traffic in the area.

“It was high time that the road was widened for smooth traffic movement through this crowded stretch,” said Srikant Sahu, a resident. Ironically, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation continues to use some portions of the national highway as garbage dump. The civic authorities are keeping large bins for garbage collection along the highway.

The gathering of stray cows and dogs near the garbage dump also adds to the traffic problem.

Last year, encroachments along the highway near the Kamapalli Square were cleared amidst police deployment.

The city got a wider passage on the crowded stretch of the NH-217 that connects Gopalpur beach town with Raipur in Chhatisgarh following an eviction drive undertaken to clear the road side encroachments in Aska Road area.

Two platoons of armed police forces were deployed to prevent any untoward incident during the demolition drive

The minimum width stipulated for the 222-km stretch highway from Gopalpur in Ganjam district to Tumudibandh in Kandhamal district was 10 metres. According to the Executive Engineer of the Berhampur NH division officials, they have already taken up the work of widening the high way to at least 10 metres.

Though the highway widening work has been complete on 150 km between Gopalpur and Tumudibandh, ironically the work on the 12 km stretch that passes through Berhampur city has been affected due to encroachments at several points. There are portions inside the city where the width of the road is six or seven meters due to encroachments. Efforts were on to make the uniform width of the NH inside the city at least 10 metres and construct drains

“I had reviewed the situation earlier. Though the widening work is going on, the construction of drains on the road side is still too be carried out and we will expedite the process. Some even constructed their illegal structure on the space meant for the drains”, said Ramkrushna Maharana, executive engineer of the Berhampur NH division.

Most city dwellers welcomed this anti-encroachment drive as Aska Road area had become a major constraint for traffic on the high way. Efforts are also on to streamline traffic in the area.

Residents of this old city welcomed the eviction drive. 'It was high time that the road should be widened for smooth traffic movement through this crowded stretch', said Srikant Sahu, a resident.

Ironically, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation continues to use some portions of the national highway as garbage dump. The civic authorities authorities are keeping large bins for garbage collection along the highway.. These garbage bins and the spilled garbage usually occupy half of the highway. The gathering of stray cows and dogs near the garbage dump adds to the traffic problem.

Last year, encroachments along the highway near the Kamapalli Square were cleared amidst police deployment.