Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Construction of three railway overbridges in the city has been going on for over two years with no sign of the work nearing completion.

Officials of the East Coast Railway claimed that they had finished their portion of work much earlier, but the roads and buildings wing of the public works department was struggling to get land to execute its part of the projects.

On their part, a works official said they were planning to finish the construction of one railway overbridge connecting Mancheswar with Satsang Vihar in the next two months. Two other overbridges will connect Saheed Nagar with Bamikhal and Pokhariput with Bhimtangi.

Work on all the overbridges began simultaneously in 2012-13, but only the Mancheswar project has shown some significant progress as problems related to land acquisition at this place have been lesser complicated.

However, the delay has multiplied commuters' problems as service roads at all these places are in bad shape because of the ongoing construction. "Throughout the year, the service roads remain filled with potholes with dust swirling around. During rains, the craters get filled with rainwater, causing problems for motorists," said Mancheswar resident Sudarshan Sahu.

An East Coast Railway official said both the railway and the state government were jointly undertaking the construction of the railway overbridges. "We have already finished our portion of the work," said the railway's chief public relation officer J.P. Mishra.

The railway portion of the overbridge at Saheed Nagar was over in March last, while the Mancheswar one was finished in July 2014. Similarly, the railway portion of the overbridge near Lingaraj station was finished in May this year.

Another works department official said the work at Mancheswar was going on at full speed and nearing completion. He said they hoped to get it done by the end of this October.

D.B. Behera, executive engineer of the works (division-IV), said that at Saheed Nagar, the department was facing problems in acquiring land. However, the work on the Bamikhal side of the overbridge was almost complete.

"The land at this spot would be bought from two government agencies - for which the process is almost complete. However, the matter with regard to a portion of land that falls within the area of a school is sub-judice as the school authorities have moved the court. We are trying hard to remove the problems," said Behera.

Similarly, work on the overbridge near Lingaraj station has been hit on the Bhimtangi side due to land related problems, said the works official.