Rourkela, Sept. 5: The construction of a 105-km stretch of the 656-km Jagdalpur-Rourkela Biju Expressway project is expected to be completed by March next year.

Executive engineer of the public works department, Rourkela division, Deepak Tripathy told The Telegraph there were land acquisition issues at some areas.

"Leaving some isolated spots, the work is nearly complete," said Tripathy.

The Rourkela division's jurisdiction stretches up to Sana Nuagaon, which covers seven kilometres of the expressway. The road ends near the busy Vedvyas junction.

The largest stretch of the expressway - 98km - is under the Sundergarh division. "We are going to meet the March deadline," said executive engineer of public works department, Sundergarh division, Prashant Kumar Pradhan. till the company gets back its invested money.

There were complaints about irregularities in land acquisition and demolition of structures by the public works department. However, Pradhan said: "No land has been acquired forcibly and we are not demolishing any structures unless it is necessary."