Sambalpur, Sept. 1: Electric poles and transformers along the Church Chhak-Nelson Mandela Chhak road and the Bhimabhoi Nagar Road will shortly be relocated to make way for construction of flyover and road expansion.

The flyover will come up on the Church Chhak-Nelson Mandela Chhak road, while the Bhimabhoi Nagar Road is set for expansion. A sum of Rs 3.28 crore will be spent for shifting the electric poles and transformers from the roads.

The public works department has started the preliminary work for flyover construction. The tender for the road expansion has also been finalised.

Executive engineer of West Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Limited (Wesco) Debadutta Sabyas- achi Mishra said: "The works department has deposited Rs 3 crore for shifting the electric poles and transformers. Around 15 electric poles and two transformers will be relocated for the flyover project."

The 1,880-metre-long flyover will connect Church Colony with Nelson Mandela Chhak, passing over the busy Lakshmi Talkies Chhak. The flyover is being built to ease traffic on the busy road.

Earlier, the works had asked Wesco to prepare a proposal for underground cabling on the Church Chhak-Nelson Mandela Chhak stretch. Wesco had then submitted a proposal for underground cabling for which the cost was estimated at Rs 14 crore. However, the department dropped the plan of underground cabling citing "excessive budget". Following this, Wesco prepared another proposal of around Rs 3 crore for relocation of the poles and transformers.

"Around 22 electric poles will be shifted for the expansion of Bhimabhoi Nagar Road. We have already submitted a proposal of around Rs 28 lakh for this purpose," said the Wesco engineer. The Bhimabhoi Nagar Road, which is a single lane, connects Santinagar at Fatak with Bhimabhoi Park.