The 400m stretch frequented by tourists is full of potholes

Bhubaneswar, July 23: Odisha tourism may put its best foot forward, but visitors still trip on the pothole-ridden surface of a 400-metre stretch connecting three major tourist attractions in the state.

Kedar Gouri Lane, the road connecting the temples of Mukteswar, Kedar-Gouri and Parsurameswar apart from some lesser-known shrines such as Taleswar, Champakeswar and Pabakesvara, is one of the worst maintained roads of the capital.

The blame for this must go to the long time taken in laying sewerage pipelines on this stretch and now, the slow pace of work to re-lay the road. Tourists are the worst sufferers. Sanjay Nayak, a businessman from the nearby Nageswar Tangi area, said: “The authorities concerned should have completed re-laying the road in the summer. Either they have no respect for our heritage sites or they do not want to keep the city clean and beautiful. The tourists are going home with a bad impression.”

The Mukteswar temple, especially its famous arch, is considered a masterpiece of temple architecture and the state tourism department highlights it in all its promotional brochures.

Similarly, the streams near Kedar Gouri have medicinal properties and Parsurameswar is a protected 7th Century monument.

Civic authorities blamed the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) for taking too a long time to finish the sewer laying work on this stretch.

However, the civic authorities took more than six months after the completion of the pipeline work to start re-laying the road.

“We have given Rs 40 lakh to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to re-lay the 400-metre stretch since we don’t have expertise in this area. Now it is up to the BMC to do it,” said project engineer, OWSSB, B.K. Parida.

Senior engineer Seikh Nasrullah of BMC, said: “The truth is that we had awarded the contract for this road much before the sewer laying work began. But suddenly we came to know that OWSSB was going to start the digging work, so we delayed our project. Now that the pipeline-laying work is over and the OWSSB has given us the money, we have begun the job. We began about 15 days ago.”

However, because of the present situation, not only tourists, local residents too are suffering. Two schools and a couple of community centres are located along this road.

“We organised a protest march in November last year, but the civic authorities did not take steps and the work on the road started only recently, barely a fortnight ago. Strangely, they have taken up the work in the middle of the monsoon,” said convener of Ekamra Vikas Manch Rashmi Mohapatra.

Mohapatra also alleged that the BMC authorities intentionally delayed the roadwork so that it could be inaugurated on Local Self Government Day on August 31 for the VIPs to cut the ribbons.