Bhubaneswar, June 26: After destroying cycle tracks along Bidyut Marg to lay underground cables, the city administration has made things worse for pedestrians by demolishing the footpath along Sachivalaya Marg here.

On the face of it, the footpath along Sachivalaya Marg is being restored, but work is going on at such a slow pace that people have no space to walk. Pedestrians complained that the slow pace of work has forced them to walk on the busy main road, risking their lives.

"The footpath here has been made unusable. This is one of the busiest stretches of the city where hundreds of vehicle passes every hour at high speed. It is difficult to walk on the road. We are putting our lives at risk," said Nita Mehera, a pedestrian.

Sachivalaya Marg is one of the important arteries of the city with important establishments housed here, including the secretariat and Assembly. Citizens also use this stretch to reach the railway station and the airport. VIPs and VVIPs, including the chief minister, also use it frequently.

"The stretch is important because it is the only major path to reach the airport. The administration should ensure good maintenance of the stretch, but it seems that they are not bothered about the general public as they focus more on maintaining the roads than the footpaths," said Unit-III resident Bidyadhar Nayak, a government employee.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, however, said it was because of the upcoming Asian Athletics Championship that the civic body was renovating the footpaths along major arteries of the city. "We have decided to beautify the arteries. We have already completed work on beautifying Raj Mahal Square for the games, now we are renovating the footpaths," said Jena.

He assured that work on the footpath would be completed by the end of this month. "We want to prove ourselves to be the best host of the games so far. We request people to understand the importance of the games and bear with us as we renovate various parts of the city. They are the ones who will get maximum benefit out of our work," said the mayor.