National Highway-203 is the only link between Bhubaneswar and Puri. But driving on the road is a nightmare, especially on the stretch between Rasulgarh and Samantarapur. The condition of the road between these two places reflects poorly on the state’s communication infrastructure with thousands of tourists visiting Puri daily carrying back an unflattering image of Orissa. The road logs 20,000 to 22,000 passenger car units (PCUs) per day. PCU is a measure to know the pressure on a road. Though NH-5, which links Cuttack and Bhubaneswar with more than 56,000 PCUs per day, sees the maximum traffic, NH-203 is also one of the busiest roads. The Telegraph puts under the scanner the part of NH-203 that passes through the city.

Samantarapur-Garage Square

This stretch mirrors the condition of the roads in the city as it passes through the entry point of Old Town, where the famous Lingaraj Temple is located. While it takes almost one hour 45 minutes to reach Puri by road, the stretch between Samantarapur and Garage Square takes more than 30 minutes as it is dotted with huge potholes.

Bikram Nayak, a resident of Brindavan Garden colony near Axis Bank’s Samantarapur branch, said work on the road between Samantarapur and Garage Square had begun nearly a year ago, but improper coordination between agencies concerned had halted progress. Last week, a schoolgirl fell into a ditch and was seriously injured. A fortnight ago, a couple riding a motorcycle also fell near the colony and both were seriously injured. Around 30 major and 60 minor accidents have taken place in the area.

Guruprasad Nanda, general secretary, Bhubaneswar District Congress, said civic authorities should share partial blame for the mess. The NH-203 is undergoing expansion. However, as the civic authorities insisted on median lighting before the Local Self Government Day celebration on August 31, NH authorities erected a median on the road under construction. As expansion work was not complete, the median divided the old road into two parts and the stretch was marked with potholes. Though local residents protested and did not allow civic officials to erect poles for streetlights, the road suffered because of a wrong decision.

“The median has cramped available road space and thus on two occasions two trucks had rammed into it,’’ said businessman Biswajit Dash.

Chief engineer NH (Orissa) B.C. Pradhan, however, claimed that the authorities with the help of the contractor were filling the potholes every evening. “Without temporary filling the road will become defunct. However, the weather is also playing spoilsport and we cannot do anything until the rain stops,’’ he said.

“The 1-km stretch between Samantarapur and Garage Square will also have an integrated drainage system and water-logging is also partly due to the incomplete sewer line. Shifting of telephone and electricity poles and drinking water pipelines also took time,” he added.

Lewis Road

Not only the potholes of Samantarapur, but a stretch near Lewis Road has also become a headache for commuters as there is a huge crater in the middle of the road near a leading car showroom. Two roads leading to Nageswar Tangi and BJB Nagar, respectively, also joins the square.

Rajesh Das, an IT professional and Nageswar Tangi resident, said: “The road was once one of the city’s best. But without proper care, it’s condition has become terrible.’’

NH (Orissa) officials admitted that huge pool-like potholes near the Nageswar Tangi Road is a concern for them. They, however, feel that the people were adding to the problem.

“Last Sunday, a local resident deposited a tractor load of discarded building material waste on the road to fill the ditch, but it had the opposite effect and we had to remove the debris with another equipment incurring more cost. People should not interfere in the technical work of the department,’’ said Pradhan.

Bomikhal

A stretch near Bomikhal on NH-203 is facing major waterlogging.

Though the road is in good condition, waterlogging has partially pushed the flow of traffic towards one end of the road. Local councillor Prarthana Mohapatra said the drain near Bomikhal remains blocked as some traders were throwing old tyres, plastic and other wastes into the sewerage.

NH (Orissa) officials said a day-long cleaning programme was undertaken on Monday.

Those cleaning the drain were surprised to find in it animal body parts thrown by roadside vendors, old tyres and liquor bottles.

“If the people do not change their behaviour, waterlogging will be a perennial problem in the area. The people should stop throwing garbage into the drain,’’ said a senior engineer.