Rourkela: The district administration has assured people that it would undertake measures to repair roads so that rath yatra passes off smoothly in the city.

The road condition at Uditnagar, Daily Market, Old Station Road, Railway Station Road, Malgodown Road, inside Basanti Colony and other areas remains bad either because of laying of water pipes or drain construction.

The district administration held a meeting at the Integrated Tribal Development Authority conference hall on Friday. Rourkela police superintendent Uma Shankar Dash presided over the meeting. The Rourkela Municipality commissioner and smart city CEO Rashmita Panda was also present there. Members of the Uditnagar organising committee expressed apprehensions about the smooth conduct of the festival because of the bad road condition on the stretch between Uditnagar and the railway station. "Due to the ongoing sewerage board work and drain construction, the pothole-dotted road has become extremely narrow. It will become extremely difficult to navigate," said U. Mohapatra of the committee.

The stretch between Basanati Colony's Baji Rout junction and the Mausima temple in Malgodown, too, lies in a bad shape. "We apprised the administration that our repeated appeal to the executing authority had fallen on deaf ears," said Dola Pradhan.

The commissioner acknowledged the problems arising out of the ongoing sewerage work and said: "All the roads, through which the raths will pass, will be readied on war footing. Besides, we will look into the specific problems such as slabs, heap of dirt gathering on the roads and electric wires."

"We have instructed the authorities to take up the pending issues with immediate effect and get those ready a couple of days before the festival begins," said Panda. Dash urged for co-operation for smooth conduct of the festival.