Bhubaneswar: The works department is yet conduct a survey to identify the illegal median cuts on various stretches here and take action to close them.
While the decision had been taken in January, officials are yet to begin the survey that aims to ensure citizens safety on the roads.
Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi slammed the department for the dillydallying attitude in a review meeting held earlier in March.
Consequently, the works department's chief engineer (roads) O.P. Patel directed all the executive engineers to swing into action. Patel wrote to the officials mentioning that the unnecessary delay would put the department in an embarrassing scenario at the next sitting of the Supreme Court on road safety.
"Please take necessary measures to close the illegal median cuts. You are also instructed to keep record of all such illegal passages, which are made unnecessarily, and requested to take action for closing of the same. If further, any such cut will be noticed, this shall be brought to the notice of local police," Patel told the engineers.
He also gave an April 10 deadline for completing the job and warned of dire action if any lapses were found.
"The chief secretary directed us to find the median cuts and close it in a time-bound manner. I have instructed the officials accordingly," said Patel.
Several such median cuts continue to mushroom in the city where many vehicles illegally cross lanes, inviting risk to themselves as well as others. The Telegraph traces such cuts near Delta Square and Damana Square.
Besides, such median cuts create traffic congestion. "The median cuts were put for vehicles to change the lanes. However, some people - driven by personal reasons - break the medians and create the illegal cuts. Such cuts always put the commuters at risk," said Jagamara resident Bijoy Sahu.
The works department will make a survey not only of the urban roads those run across the cities, but also of national and state highways to find the illegal median cuts.
"Every road, where median exists, will be surveyed to find out the cuts. Steps will be taken to close those," said a works department official.
