Bhubaneswar, Aug. 6: The pathetic state of a road connecting four major shrines is likely to bring down the number of devotees drastically and affect religious tourism in the capital.

Delay in the shifting of electric poles and transformers and digging work for laying sewer pipelines has made it difficult for many devotees to endure the drive along the Tankapani Road, which is the link to the Rajarani, Bhaskareswar, Brahmeswar and Megheswar temples. Making things even more difficult is the condition of the connecting roads to the shrines, which has gone from bad to worse.

Apart from road issues, Megheswar temple has a serious waterlogging problem too. In the absence of a proper drainage outlet from the temple pond, the excess water percolates though the walls and submerges the deity for hours and at times, even days.

While the public works department (PWD) has blamed the Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu), the power distribution company, for the delay in shifting electric poles and transformers, the laying of sewer pipelines has also slowed down road repairs.

Sewerage board officials have also blamed Cesu for not clearing the way for them to lay sewer lines.

“Many agencies are linked with the road repair process. We can work faster if the electrical poles and transformers are shifted as soon as possible,” said project engineer of Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board B.K. Parida.

PWD executive engineer Manoranjan Tripathy said: “Delay in the shifting of electric posts and transformers from the roadside is the reason why the road construction is not complete yet.”

Speaking on the condition of the road, particularly the stretch between Rajarani and Bhaskareswar temples, Tripathy said: “We tried to repair it by dumping materials on many occasions, but due to incessant rains it was not possible to repair the road. However, some portions have been repaired.”

Cesu senior engineer Basudeb Mahakud said the poles were already being relocated.

“We have replaced nearly 10 poles despite the road being very crowded and workers facing problems because of that. Work has also been affected because of the rain.”

Director of culture Sushil Kumar Das said: “As the road is a major link to four important temples, we will ask the authorities concerned to expedite a one-way road project. Once it is done, devotees can visit the temples without any discomfort.”

Councillors of ward Nos. 50 and 54 Ashok Kumar Singh and Malaya Kumar Mohapatra said they had asked the authorities several times to finish repairing the road. However, nothing had been done yet.

Sanjay Kumar Nayak, a resident of the Ravi Talkies Square area, said: “There has been a lot of hype on promoting religious tourism. However, with the connecting road remaining in such a bad shape, the number of devotees will only come down. It needs to be probed how a road connecting four major temples remains in such a bad shape.”