Footpaths have been paved with coloured tiles as part of the beautification drive in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 12: Tiled footpaths along with mid-verge landscaping has given a new look to the Ring Road that serves as the lifeline for the people of the Millennium City.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), which had started the Ring Road beautification project last year, carried out the work in the stretch from Satichoura to Bidanasi for Rs 50 lakh.

Moreover, tiled footpath, grilling and landscaping of the mid-verge have been over in the 1.5km stretch from Satichoura to Bidanasi.

“Change is visible in the look of the Ring Road following the beautification project. We are happy over the development work that has been going on in the locality for the past few months,” said Pradip Behera, a local resident.

Pedestrians used to face problems while walking along the road. Now, apart from the pedestrians, many morning walkers are also using the coloured tiled footpath. Earlier, the CMC had carried out the beautification work on public-private-partnership (PPP) mode on a stretch of about 2.5km along the Mahandi river.

“The beautification work from Satichoura to Bidanasi began in March this year. So far, tiled footpaths have been created in nearly a stretch of 1.5km. Similarly, the work for mid-verge landscaping has also been over at many places on the stretch of the Ring Road. The rest of the areas will be covered in subsequent phases,” said CMC executive engineer Ashok Kumar Parida.

Parida said the cost of the beautification project from Satichoura to Bidanasi has been estimated at Rs 50 lakh and the work is expected to be over by July.

The Ring Road covers a distance of 16km, which encircles the city on the northern, western and southern sides.

Moreover, the Ring Road stretch between Deer Park and Matamatha has already been developed with the installation of heritage lamps, landscaping of the mid-verge and pavements. One Seashore Group carried out the beautification work from Deer Park to Matamatha on PPP mode.

The CMC officials said the road connecting Badambadi with Khannagar had also been included under the beautification project and the work is almost over.

“Earlier, there were big potholes on the Ring Road. However, things have changed a lot in the past and more efforts have been put in towards the beautification of the busy road,” said local resident Rakesh Mohanty (31).

According to Mohanty, steps seem to have also been taken to install proper lighting systems at many areas, including the Ring Road.

“A lot of development works has been initiated on prominent places in the city and on the Ring Road. However, a lot more needs to be done in terms on maintenance and repairs as there are still many vulnerable places on the Ring Road that have not been properly barricaded,” said another local resident Sachin Joshi (29).