A cyclist negotiates a pothole on the Bareipali-Khetrajpur road in Sambalpur. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, Aug. 10: The Bareipali-Khetrajpur road in the city is full of craters. Though the road is one of the main links to the Khetrajpur wholesale market, the authorities seem least bothered to address the situation.

“There is a big pothole right at the start of the Baraipali-Khetrajpur road and similar ones are present all through Khetrajpur,” said Ardhendu Panda, a local resident and regular commuter on this road.

“Even though traffic on this road is substantial, the authorities are yet to take any initiative to repair the road. School-going students face severe inconvenience while passing through here. On several occasions, I have seen school-bound children being forced to return home to change after muddy water splashed on their uniforms.,” said Panda.

Autorickshaw driver Basant Meher said: “I always try to avoid this road because the potholes not only make driving difficult, but also cause financial losses. All I earn goes to the mechanics. Recently, I had to spend Rs 500 on repairing the vehicle after driving on the road.”

“Sometimes, even local residents dump debris on the road to fill up potholes, which has made it even worse,” said Meher.

People say it has been more than four decades since the municipality had last repaired the road. “The condition has deteriorated because of rain. Vehicles heading to the wholesale market are facing severe difficulties,” said Rajiv Biswal, another local resident.

He said that it was high time the authorities concerned had the road repaired.

Sambalpur municipality vice-chairperson Siddharth Saha said: “The road has been recently been handed over to the road and building department and it has already initiated the process for repairing the road. The department has floated a tender for the purpose.”