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Bhubaneswar, Sept. 16: Bumpy roads across the city are a pain to drive on and chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s motorcade is also not spared.
The Airport-Nandankanan road — with part of it washed away near Naveen’s residence — bears testimony to the poor condition of city roads.
The damaged portion lies close to the airport’s old gate and Forest Park. “The chief minister’s motorcade passes through this stretch everyday, but the condition of the road has not changed,” said Deepak Mohapatra, a commuter, who takes the stretch to reach office. The stretch of the same road between Jayadev Vihar and XIMB Square is also left in a shambles. Pockmarked and with the top layers eroded, the road is dangerous to drive on.
Jayadev Vihar resident and dental surgeon Nagendra Bihari Panda said: “The road has been lying in this condition for the past one year. Things have become worse following rain.”
A senior engineer of the public works department said: “Rainwater should pass through drains along the roads, but as at many places the water, instead of going to the drains, flows over the road, the top layer is washed away. Moreover, repairs do not happen regularly.”
Department official Anirudh Mishra said: “While XIMB Square is a major landmark in the city, roads near the area are badly damaged due to constant waterlogging over the years.”
Chief engineer (roads) B.C. Pradhan said: “We are aware of the bad condition of the Airport-Nandankanan road at several places. But this year, heavy rainfall has caused unusual damage to it near Jayadev Vihar. We generally place new layers on the old roads every three years, but this particular stretch had not been repaired for the past five years, as the road condition was good. We will start repairs once the rainy season is over.”
The NH-203 between Rasulgarh Square and Samantarapur is also in bad shape. “The top layer of the stretch between Old Station Square and Chintamaniswar Lane has been washed away. The national highways (Odisha) authority should repair the road before Puja,” said Chintamaniswar resident Lenin Kumar Ray.
The NH-203 passing through Samantarapur is now full with potholes. “We have informed the National Highways Authority of India and work is likely to start shortly,” said local councillor Biranchi Narayan Mahasupakar.
Executive engineer of the NHAI (Odisha) Jaladhar Pradhan said: “We are ready with a Rs 25-crore renovation plan of the NH-203 between Rasulgarh and the end of the Samantarapur check gate. The new road will have an extra elevation of four inches and drains will be in place.