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| Poor condition of the Glass Palace Lane at Badambadi area in Cuttack. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das |
Cuttack, Oct. 16: Ahead of the festive season, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) had somewhat successfully carried out road repair works. However, there are still many areas in the city where bad road conditions are causing inconvenience to the commuters.
The Glass Palace Lane at Badambadi has now turned into an “accident-prone zone” owing to lack of measures for its repair. Big potholes dot the thoroughfare that is used by hundreds of commuters on a daily basis.
“The entire stretch of the road from Vishal Hotel up to the backyard of government bus stand via Glass Palace Lane is in a bad shape. Though it is a major thoroughfare, no step is being taken for its repair,” said Ramesh Rath, 35, a local resident.
According to Rath, the road conditions have become worse in the locality in the past couple of years. The Glass Palace Lane acts as a shortcut between Badambadi, Khannagar and Ring Road. Hence, hundreds of commuters depend on the thoroughfare to avoid heavy congestion at Badambadi traffic signal.
“Since childhood, we have been depending on the road to move towards Khannagar and Puri Ghat areas via the Glass Palace Lane. But it has now been almost two years that no step has been taken for its repair,” said Swayam Prakash Sahu, 27, a marketing professional from Link Road.
Local residents said there had been a considerable rise in the traffic in the locality as a lot of autorickshaws were using the shortcut throughout the day. The authorities should initiate measures to prevent the entry of autorickshaws, as it was not only causing a lot of noise pollution but also affecting the traffic situation in the area.
“Despite living in one of the posh areas in the heart of the city, there has been no development here in terms of basic civic amenities. There has been an inordinate delay in the execution of the works for the repair of the road,” said Manoranjan Nayak, another local resident.
Besides bad road condition, there is an open drain along the entire stretch of the road, which is posing a threat to the lives of people as many autorickshaws and other motorists have fallen into the drain in the past.
On the other hand, local councillor Pradipta Kishore Khuntia admitted that there had been delay in carrying out the repair works. He, however, assured that steps would be taken soon in this regard. “Owing to the festive season, the work for the repair of the road could not be taken. The tender process for the road repair and drain has already been completed and the work will begin soon,” Khuntia said.