Bhubaneswar, April 23: Come July, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena has promised citizens to roll out pothole-free roads across the city.
Till then, commuters, particularly those who ride two-wheelers, will have to be extra cautious while commuting on these crater-ridden roads and wear every possible gear to avoid mishaps.
Talking about the poor condition of roads, the mayor said civic authorities had identified them for repair in various wards across the city. "We have finalised the executor to take up an array of road and drain projects across the city," he said. But, the residents are worried because these roads have become prone to accidents and they apprehend more mishaps till the municipal corporation completes the projects.
The other day, Pratik Pradhan, 26, who was on his way to office at Infocity, landed at a hospital following a minor accident at Nayapalli.
Pradhan, a Nayapalli resident, was riding his motorbike to office. On the way, he drove into a pothole at Nayapalli. "I couldn't notice the pothole and fell into it with my motorbike. Fortunately, some passers-by and local residents came to my rescue. They took me to hospital."
"The road at Nayapalli has remained in a bad condition for long. But the pothole, in which I fell, must have been created recently. Though I suffered minor injuries in the mishap, I had to take a day-off and was asked to take rest for two more days," said Pradhan, a native of Bhadrak.
Such ordeals have become a common affair in the area. "Many children, who play on the roads, often fall in these potholes and get hurt. With vehicular movement increasing every day, the potholes are gradually getting bigger. Time and again, we have asked the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to repair the roads. We have a feeling that the authorities will only wake up after a major road mishap takes place. Till then they will not undertake necessary repairs on these scare stretches," said local resident Girija Mohany.
However, the mayor said: "Repair of the roads at Nayapalli are also part of the plan."
Nayapalli is not the only sore area for motorists and commuters. A 2km stretch from Bomikhal to Rasulgarh on the Cuttack-Puri highway has also become a nightmare for motorists.
The condition of the stretch is even worse than some of the worst Nayapalli roads.
While one side of the road is filled with potholes because of the construction of a railway overbridge, underground cable-laying work has damaged the stretch on the other side. These two projects, being executed on the same stretch, have narrowed down the highway to almost half.
Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited is executing the cable-laying job. In the process, it had to dig the road but failed to put a proper fencing alongside to avert road mishaps. On the other hand, the under-construction overbridge has contributed more to the danger because of poor traffic management in the area.
A power body official said they had dug up the roadside to put slabs and now were on the final stage of the wire-laying job. "The work will end in a month," he said, adding that though they had installed bamboo fencing at the worksites, it was broken at several places.
"We request the overbridge security to regulate the traffic in the area," the official said.
Such assurances, however, fail to alleviate the commuters' fear of travelling on this stretch. "It is a horror to take the Cuttack-Puri highway mainly because of the construction work," said Bomikhal resident Bidya Mohapatra.
Asked about the road condition, the mayor said: "The public works department takes care of the the Cuttack-Puri highway. We'll talk to them regarding the poor condition of the stretch and its repair."
