Bhubaneswar, Dec. 19: Tourists travelling from Berhampur to Puri via Bhubaneswar will find the distance shortened by 30km once the ambitious Dhauli-Khandagiri Road becomes a reality.

The Dhauli-Khandagiri Road will start from NH-203 from near the Daya river and converge at NH-5 near Dharma Vihar. Plans are also afoot for a proposed railway overbridge near Pokhariput.

The road will be built with a proposed investment of Rs 29 crore, while the overbridge alone will cost Rs 42 crore.

Of the Rs 42 crore, the state government has agreed to bear Rs 22 crore while the rest will be borne by the Indian Railways.

A road from IIT Argul near Jatni will also be connected to the Dhauli-Khandagiri corridor so that the approach to the city airport and the IIT is reduced to 20km from the existing 35km via the Jatni-Sundarpada road.

Not only that, the Jatni-Sundarpada road, which is now maintained by the rural works department, will be taken over by the public works department (PWD). The 100-feet road will be converted into a four-lane, 200-feet road to facilitate faster traffic movement.

“The NH-5 approach to Puri from Berhampur will be shortened.

“People coming from places such as Khurda, Nayagarh and nearby areas will also benefit. Tourists now take the road from Jatni towards Pipili. The new, wider road and its quality will definitely attract more tourists,” said Ashok Kumar Panda, MLA (Ekamra). He said the new web of roads would be a boon for tourism promotion and people coming from Puri to Khandagiri, Nandankanan and Cuttack.

Division III of the PWD has taken up expansion of the road from Naka Gate near Kalinga Studio to the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, Andharua.

“The road will be developed with an investment plan of Rs 12 crore. Later, it will be extended up to Infocity. Extending the road will mean faster communication between Infocity and the airport via Khandagiri.

“There is also a plan to extend the road up to Cuttack so that travellers coming from Cuttack via Trisulia can take the road to Puri to reach the holy city faster and without being bothered by city traffic,” said executive engineer of the division, P.C. Nayak.

To decongest traffic on NH-203 inside the city between Rasulgarh and the Daya river bridge, the National Highways Authority of India has already started building a diversion between Pandra and Lingipur. The new road connecting Khandagiri and Cuttack will act as a second option to reduce the traffic burden on the city by diverting vehicles on their way to Puri.

“The development of the road from Trisulia to Dhauli via Khandagiri will ultimately provide a ring road-like facility in Bhubaneswar. Some work has already started this year near Daya bridge. Once the ring road concept takes shape in Old Bhubaneswar, the communication network will be completely changed,” said executive engineer of Division II of PWD Ranjit Sahu.

“The road network and its development beyond Old Town will also provide better infrastructure for areas up to Jatni. More housing projects will come up in these areas in the near future.

“Once the road links are established, the zone will be a sought-after destination for real estate development,” said Manoranjan Ray, a real estate developer.

PWD engineers, however, said the state government would take the final call on deciding the path of the Dhauli road and its place of origin from NH-203 as there was also a plan to build a second road connecting Samantarapur from the western bank of Gangua nullah and Kapileswar village near Sundarpada.

Apart from the Dhauli-Khandagiri Road, there is also a plan to develop a national highway between Pitapalli and NH-42 joining Cuttack and Angul.

The new national highway will reduce the distance between Dhenkanal and Puri.