Balasore, April 28: The four-laned National Highway (NH)-60 between Balasore and Calcutta, has proved to be a curse for the people of this coastal district, especially those in north Balasore. A portion of the highway near Dhari bridge, measuring about 40 feet, has been dislodged due to backpressure of flood water. The broken patch is still lying unattended, putting many lives in peril.

Local residents alleged the famous Jagannath Sadak, also known as Orissa Trunk road-turned-highway, was elevated despite stiff opposition from their side. “We had protested against the elevation work but neither the district administration nor our elected representatives paid any attention. We are now bearing the brunt of this,” said Purosottam Pradhan, a local resident.

The lack of arrangement for discharging water has intensified this problem. Several villages, which lie along this stretch, have been affected by severe floods ever since the highway was constructed under the Golden Quadrilateral project of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI); a case in point is the flood of 2008 which wreaked havoc in Balasore.

“We have had several rounds of discussions and meetings with the officials and politicians but it has fallen on deaf ears. The wrecked road is a potential threat to our lives,” said Tuna Mohapatra, another resident.Ananta Das, a Biju Janata Dal MLA, said he had been staging demonstrations against elevating NH-60 even before he came to power. “People of north Balasore would continue to suffer unless the faulty work is corrected,” said Das.

On the other hand, officials of the district administration said the issue has been taken up at higher levels. “We have already appealed to the higher officials about. Looking at the urgency of this problem, I am trying to draw the attention of the chief secretary in this regard,” said A.B. Ota, district collector.

According to the report of the NHAI’s technical committee, there is a need for increasing the waterways to around 3,000 metres from the existing 1,420 metres across the 53 km stretch of the NH that connects Balasore with Laxmannath Road.

“The matter was taken up at the topmost levels — chief minister, chief secretary and NHAI. But I fail to understand what the NHAI authorities are doing. The Orissa Trunk road, constructed during British time, had provisions to drain out the water. But this aspect was ignored during widening work, which has led to this problem,” said Jaynarayan Mohanty, former MLA from north Balasore.

Balasore MP and Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers, Srikant Jena, said an expert team has established the design is faulty and insufficient water passage is the sole reason for the broken road. “The highway was supposed to be a six-lane road with additional waterways of 1,500 metres at an estimated cost of Rs 360 crore. Although the idea was dropped, we are considering it again,” said Jena.