The crater-filled Church Chhak-Modipara Chhak road in Sambalpur. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, Sept. 4: The Church Chhak-Modipara Chhak Road, which passes through the district headquarters hospital here, has been lying in a bad shape for long.

This is one of the most important roads of the city and the volume of traffic on it is also very high.

The stretch from Church Chhak to the sub-divisional office of the public health and engineering department on the road is lying in a miserable condition. The road here starts with a big pothole at Church Chhak. And once you cross the big pothole, you have to negotiate numerous craters all through the road.

“The road has been lying in this condition for long. However, no initiative has been taken to repair it so far. The district headquarters hospital is located on the road. Hundreds of people depend on it to go to the hospital. However, because of the condition of the road, the commuters, especially the people who come to the hospital for treatment, suffer a lot,” said Gopiath Pruseth, a local resident.

“It seems that the authority concerned is not serious on repairing the road. The road should be repaired as soon as possible,” said Pruseth

The road also serves as a connecting link to the Modipara Chhak-Kunjelpara Chhak Road of the city, which leads to the famous Samaleswari temple.

“Accidents are also a regular phenomenon on this road. The bad condition of the road is one of the major reasons behind the accidents,” said Newton Ray, a commuter.

“The condition has now deteriorated more following incessant rainfall in this monsoon. Commuters are now facing severe difficulties while passing through the road,” he said. “During rain, the craters get filled with water, making driving almost impossible. The authority concerned should take steps to repair the road,” said Sandeep Mohanty, another local resident.

Vice-chairperson of Sambalpur Municipality Siddharth Saha said: “The road has already been handed over to the roads and buildings department. They will have to start the process to repair the road.”