Rourkela: Two flyovers that are being constructed here have been delayed by few months for problems in design and land acquisition.

"The delay was caused by problems such as faulty design and land acquisition hurdle and others," said an official involved in the project on the condition of anonymity.

Work on both the flyovers on railway level-crossing numbers 211 and 212 are stuck in land acquisition-related problems. For the one at the State Technical Institute Chowk, there are problems near the crossing as six fruit sellers are not agreeing to shift their business.

"Attempts are on to relocate the fruit sellers to a vending zone," said the official.

Also the owner of a private land located near Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital is not willing to give his land for the project. In this case, the government will offer to directly purchase the land from the person.

"If the person does not agree to sell his land, then we will be left with no option but to acquire his land for public purpose," said the official.

The railway level crossing No. 212 is near the Industrial Technical Institute crossing. "Here, a private land owner has already agreed to part with his plot and relocate. So, this project will not see any further delay," said the official.

Another official said that it was simply not possible to complete the two flyovers, measuring over 700-800 metres, in just 15 months' time. So, time overrun is bound to happen. However, he assured that there would not be any cost escalation."

When contacted, executive engineer of public works department Bijay Pati expressed hope that the work on both the flyovers would complete shortly.

"I am very much satisfied with the quality of work. We are adhering to all the required norms laid down by the government while carrying out the projects," he said.

"We are using rods supplied by the Steel Authority of India Limited for the project. We have been regularly doing quality control checks as well. We are also doing required testing at government laboratories situated here and in Bhubaneswar. Besides, we are also taking the help of laboratories of the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, to be sure about the quality of work."

He hoped that both the projects would be complete by June.