Sambalpur: The town is set to take a major leap in sanitation facilities with the construction of sewerage treatment plant and laying of pipelines.

The civil work for the plant will be completed this year and is scheduled to become operational next year, project engineer B.N. Dash said.

"Construction of the plant has started two months back and about 25 per cent of the work has been completed," Dash told The Telegraph.

The state government approved the Sambalpur sewerage project on July 30, 2014. The Rs 324.32-crore project will have eight pumping stations and pipeline totalling to 254km will be laid in the town. The implementation of the project was delayed due to land acquisition problems.

Pune-based Engineering and Construction Pvt. Limited is implementing the project. According to the agreement it will also take up maintenance of the project for five years after completion.

In the first phase, the department has decided to construct two pumping stations to make it partly operational. Laying of pipelines at Bhatra, Dhanupali, Govindtola and Mahabirpada on the outskirts of the town is in full progress.

To speed up the work and sort out ground-level problems, a departmental co-ordination committee has been formed according to the guideline of the Odisha Housing and Urban Development department under the chairmanship of collector Samarth Verma.

There had been problems in digging up roads for laying pipelines due to the presence of BSNL cable and water supply pipelines, Dash said. He added: "It is a difficult work particularly for an old town like Sambalpur."

The construction of the plant will cost Rs 45 crores and laying of pipelines will cost another Rs 200 cores. The government has acquired 24 acres of land for the plant from 91 landowners at Bhatra. Construction of the sidewalls of plant is almost over. Pumping stations will be constructed at Durgapali, Badbazar, Dhanupali, Govindtola, Ainthapali, Sarla, Sunapali, and Putibandh.

However, some residents have alleged that the sewerage authorities are digging up concrete roads but leaving them unrepaired.

This, they said, had created a major problem for commuters. Dash said that the issue had been addressed and the construction company would take up the repair work immediately.