Cuttack: The roads and buildings division of the state works department on Friday resumed its work on the Rs 1.65 crore four-lane project to widen the road connecting Biju Patnaik Chhak with Ring Road along Mahanadi River at Deer Park.

The four-lane project has been planned to complement another Rs 2.17 crore project to widen the road from Cantonment Road near Barabati Stadium to Biju Patnaik Chhak.To clear the way for the project, the roads and buildings division in Cuttack had first undertaken eviction of unauthorised constructions - shops that had come up at Biju Patnaik Chhak close to the puja mandap.

"The puja mandap was left out in view of a high court order," a Cuttack roads and buildings division official said.

Biju Patnaik Chhak Bazar Committee president Surya Behera said: "As we were concerned only with the puja mandap, we had sought the high court's intervention to stop its demolition. The high court had ordered allotment of the land for the puja mandap."

"The puja mandap was constructed between 1982 and 1984. It was registered in 1993. Accordingly, power connection had also been allowed," said Jayee Behera, secretary of Biju Patnaik Chhak Bazar Committee.

The project was undertaken on a stretch of less than a kilometre in 2016.

Cuttack roads and buildings executive engineer M.R. Khan said: "Work involving clearance of trees and relocation of the electricity connection poles has been already completed. We expect to complete expansion of the road by end of March."

The existing roads under the project are to be expanded to maintain the 7.5m width on both sides of the median. The road expansion work could not be taken up because of the unauthorised constructions. A clearance of around 7ft is required for construction and connecting of the new road with Biju Patnaik Chhak.

With the clearance of the illegal constructions, the project work will begin without touching the puja mandap, an official said.