Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: Frequent digging of new roads by various departments could be a thing of the past with the government planning to have a mandatory utility corridor while designing a stretch.

Utility corridor is a space allocated along a road, bridge or any such civil engineering structure through which power cables, telephone lines or water pipelines can pass through. It is so designed that even if there are changes to the road structure, the space on the corridor remains unaffected ensuring no damage to the cables and pipelines.

Various agencies developing roads inside the city, including public works department, National Highways Authority of India, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and utility providers such as Central Electricity Supply Utility, Public Health Engineering Organisation, sewerage board, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and city traffic police will jointly discuss the road development process so that all issues related to the design could be addressed before a particular stretch is constructed.

While speaking at the 33rd foundation day of the BDA yesterday, housing and urban development minister Pushpendra Singh Deo said: "Many major roads are in a bad shape with agencies digging them up at different intervals for various reasons. We have started the process of providing a utility corridor in all city roads."

The BDA vice-chairman, while explaining the move by the state government, said: "The process has already started to constitute an authority where representative of all the agencies will be present. Roads more than 15 metres wide will be okayed by the panel headed by the PWD chief engineer (roads). The stretches need to have provisions for a corridor to help passage of water supply, electricity, telephone and sewer lines."

Delhi is already following this process.

Urban development expert Piyush Ranjan Rout said: "The provisions for utility corridor should be made as early as possible as many newly built roads have been damaged due to unplanned action by various agencies."

With the city getting berths both for the smart city tag and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut), the provisions for cycle tracks, footpaths and foot overbridges will get priority.

Ashrujit Mohanty, 32, a member of city-based group "We All Ride Bicycle", which promotes cycling among the youth, said: "The road design with friendly cycle tracks all over the city will definitely bring down pollution level in the state capital."

As part of the Amrut plan, the civic body has submitted a proposal to develop a 37.5km cycle track along the footpath. At present, the city has only 10.5km cycle track.