Bhubaneswar, May 3: The public works department has taken three long years to repair and reduce the height of a slope at a Kharavela Nagar crossing.

The slope on the road, which originates from the Reserve Bank of India joins Janpath at the crossing, had been a major obstacle to commuters.

On August 8, 2013, the then executive engineer of the works department division-I Manoranjan Tripathy said steps were being taken to break the cemented bridge-like structure that covered a drain to make the gradient driver-friendly. "After breaking the portion, we will make the slope smooth," Tripathy had said.

On August 9 the same year, The Telegraph had published a report focussing on incidents of vehicles skidding at this point and the authorities' apathy towards solving the problem.

Even the local councillor of ward No. 44 had written to the executive engineer and other senior officials of the public works department regarding the road plight.

Now, works department sources said the upcoming elections at that time had delayed the work. First, the civic body polls and then the general elections along with Assembly poll were conducted and the process continued till June last year. After that, work could not begin because of the monsoon.

"Besides, there were other works to be carried out by the division," said a senior official of the division-I.

"We are using cement drillers to break the cemented bridge-like structure over the drain towards the Janpath-side to reduce the slope. Earlier, the structure was flat and the slope steep. Now, the bridge will be tilted - which would automatically reduce the slope," the officer said.

Though till now, there have been no major accidents at this point, local traders recounted that at least one minor mishap used to take place in every alternate day on the slope. While bikes used to skid at this point, chassis of cars often got stuck on the slope.

A local trader said the steep slope caught many drivers unaware and often led to minor mishaps. "Bikers hurtling down the road took a heavy fall when they slammed the brakes on seeing the slope," he said.

Apart from the Reserve Bank of India, Abhinna Chandra Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital is also located on the road that meets the traffic flow from Sachivalaya Marg and Janpath at this point. Here vehicles coming from the Master Canteen-side had to be extremely careful to avoid hitting cars coming from the Reserve Bank-side.

"We had been complaining about this steep slope, but the authorities did not pay attention. It was too dangerous," said Unit-III resident Sumana Rout.

"As other roads at Unit-III were not as wide, this was invariably used for diverting traffic during rallies and demonstrations," said another local resident Sudhanshu Satpathy. When the Assembly is in session, Janpath witnesses rallies and demonstrations here almost daily.

Executive engineer of division-I (works department) Jaladhar Pradhan said a decision to reduce the slope's height was taken, keeping the people's inconvenience in mind. "The slope had become steep because of the height of the drain flowing under it. Once the work is over, driving here will become easy," said Pradhan.