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| Excavated soil dumped on the road pose problems for motorists at Rasulgarh in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati |
Bhubaneswar, Aug. 12: Indiscriminate dumping of mud excavated during the building of over-bridges on National Highway No. 5 is posing a traffic hazard.
Irate residents of Rasulgarh had recently blocked the highway as 10 schoolchildren sustained injuries after they slipped into a ditch at one of these construction sites.
The condition of the road at one such site at Fire Station Square is very bad. “During rains, the deposited mud flows onto the road,” said Raghunath Barik, a resident. At present, construction work is on for three flyovers at Rasulgarh, Vani Vihar and Fire Station Square. Motorists are finding the going tough at these places because of traffic snarls.
“The construction of over-bridges has led to the roads becoming narrow and muddy water released from these sites has made driving dangerous. The roads become very slippery during heavy downpour,” said Bhanuprasd Tarai, a local resident. Tarai said he wanted the authorities to carry out construction work after 10pm.
Lack of proper drainage facilities adds to the problem. “Drainage facilities are poor, and so the released water remains on the road,” said an employee of a private company associated with the construction.
“We had a meeting with the authorities of the construction company and asked them to remove excavated material as soon as possible,” said Aditya K. Ray, project manager of National Highway Authorities of India (NHAI).
Traffic management is also getting difficult at the places where the flyovers are being built.
“We are trying our best to manage traffic but it not our responsibility if accident takes place because of slippery roads. The authorities concerned should remove excavated material. We have also asked the authorities of the construction company not to obstruct the road with excavated mud,” said a senior police officer in-charge of traffic in the city.
In the last two months, nearly 30 accidents have taken place on the national highway connecting Rasulgarh and Barmunda and at least 10 people have died.