A damaged road at Lingaraj Vihar in Pokhariput awaits repair. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 20: A land dispute at Lingaraj Vihar, a housing colony promoted by the local urban development authority during 1998-2000, is delaying road repair in the locality.

Secretary of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority Srikant Kabi said the roads at Lingaraj Vihar were yet to be transferred to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation because of a land dispute in the colony.

“We have sent a team of officials to inspect the site. We will take immediate steps to transfer the roads to the corporation once the general elections are over.”

Residents of the colony have to negotiate the potholes everyday, because the corporation can take up the job only after ownership of the roads is transferred to it.

The roads got damaged nearly two years ago during sewerage works in the colony. Sources said that though the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board, which had executed the pipeline work, was ready to provide funds to the civic body for the repair, the corporation was yet to submit an estimate to the board.

A corporation official said they were unable to take up the road job as it was still owned by the development authority.

In practice, after development of a colony, the developer hands over infrastructure, such as roads, drains and streetlights to the municipal corporation for maintenance.

Local resident Meenakshi Behera said: “The condition of the damaged roads in the colony is worse. Only the major branch roads connecting the Pokhariput-Khandagiri stretch, owned by the public works department, are slightly better.”

Behera said that last year, her father-in-law Adwaita Charan Mohapatra had fallen from his scooter near the community centre lane while negotiating the pothole-dotted stretch. Secretary of the Lingaraj Vihar Residents’ Welfare Association Patitapaban Sahu said: “We heard that the development authority had transferred the road ownership to the corporation. However, it has not been done yet.”

Local councillor Hrudaya Ballabh Samantray said: “Last year, the corporation council had passed a resolution mentioning that the development authority should repair the roads before transferring the ownership.”

Another resident, Hemanta Kumar Panda, said the authorities should take immediate steps to co-ordinate the technical formalities of transfer of ownership.

Colony resident Sabyasachi Das said: “People need better roads and the civic authorities will have to ensure it. We cannot suffer because of others’ mistake.”

Project engineer of the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board B.K. Parida said: “We are providing funds to the works department and the civic body wherever their roads are damaged because of sewerage pipeline work. But, the agency has to give us an estimate first. In case of Lingaraj Vihar, the civic body is yet to give an estimate for the road job.”

Executive engineer of the corporation R.N. Mallick said: “If the residents give us a representation through the local councillor for the repair of the roads linked to sewerage work, we will consider it as a special case.”