Cuttack, Aug 3: The feeder road that connects the Markatnagar satellite township to Sector 2 and Sector 10 remains dark every evening, as the stretch lacks street lights even after two months of its inauguration.
On June 10, chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the 3.6-km road.
Sources said the road was likely to remain deprived of street lights for at least another six months thanks to the bickering over funds between the public works department and the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.
"This is perilous to the commuters as it has caused several accidents. If nothing is done, muggers will also have a field day making it more unsafe," said councillor of ward No. 4 Giribala Behera.
The department built the new road to ensure fast connectivity. The construction took place after pulling down over 200 illegal establishments and houses along the Petanala water channel.
The road took almost three years to be ready and cost around Rs 18 crore.
A works official said provisions were made for concrete medians to install the street lights, but the civic body is supposed to do it at their cost. The civic officials, on the other hand, had expected funds to install the street lights and their maintenance.
Civic body commissioner Gyana Das told The Telegraph: "We do not have the funds to provide street lights on the new road. An estimate has been drawn up for it. We expect the works department to provide the funds on submission of the estimate."
Executive engineer (roads and buildings) of the works department (Cuttack) Pramod Kumar Nayak said: "The government had sanctioned Rs 18 crore for the road. But, there was no provision for street lights. The corporation was expected to install them."
"Now, if the civic body pleads inability to bear the expenditure and submits an estimate, we will have to send it to the government for approval and release of the required funds," Nayak said.
Sources said the expenditure for installing the lights has been estimated at Rs 1.51 crore. All the 96 electric poles, identified for installation, will have LED bulbs. With two in each pole and four in the rest six poles at both ends of the road, a total of 204 bulbs will be installed at the stretch.
"The work has been planned to start on the occasion of the Local Self-government Day on August 31. We expect the works to provide the funds by then," head of the standing committee for public health, electricity supply, water supply, drainage and environment Ranjan Kumar Biswal said.
However, as the wait for funds continues, commuters keep on suffering. Some days ago, Bidanasi resident Satyajit Roy had managed to avoid a collision with a car. "It was difficult for me to understand the movement of the car coming from the right at Bidanasi crossing. It's risky to ride on that stretch, as there's no light during the night," said Roy.
