Sonepur, June 19: Sonepur Municipality, which has earlier taken a note of people who gather sand, boulders, and brick at their construction sites and dump near the road, has been accused of doing the same.

Huge amounts of construction materials which are left after completion of some projects taken up by the municipal authorities are now found scattered in the streets of the town. Residents alleged that they have drawn attention of the civic authorities several times to shift the construction materials from the roads, but no action has been taken in this regard so far. Heaps of sand, chips, bricks and boulders lie on the road causing serious traffic problem in the town.

Sources said that municipal authorities here had taken up some projects such as construction of buildings and roads in the town. Most of the works have been completed, but construction materials like sand, boulders, chips and bricks which were unused still lie in the streets of the town.

It may be noted here that the municipal authorities had earlier taken serious note of such acts done by the residents of the town. It had even issued a warning to take stringent action against those who blocks road of the town by piling up construction materials.

Municipal office sources said that it had taken up a road work from the Biju Pattnaik Chowk to the office of the fire station at an estimated cost of Rs 19.50lakh. To take up the work, at least 40 roadside traders had been evicted. The road work has been completed about five months ago. But the residents find it difficult to travel as the piles of construction materials obstruct their way.

Saroj Sahu, a town resident said that it was difficult to travel in the road as construction materials lay on the road. “Though the road has been completed about five months ago, the municipality has not yet shifted the unused materials, which is causing traffic problem. We have drawn the attention of the municipal authorities about it several times, but there is no response from them,” he said.

Netrananda Dwari, who has a hotel on the roadside, said: “The municipality has left huge quantity of construction materials in front of my hotel which has caused inconvenience to my customers. I have made several requests with the municipality to remove it, but they have not paid any heed. During the rain, the condition will become even worse, if it is not cleared immediately,” Dwari said.

The executive officer of Sonepur Municipality, Radharaman Behera, admitted that unused construction materials lie in the streets of the town. “It has come to my notice that construction materials lay in the streets of the town and causing inconvenient to the town residents. We are taking steps to remove the materials as soon as possible,” Behera said.