Rourkela, Aug. 7: The three-kilometre long road between Udit Nagar and Bisra Chhak, which is the main business centre of the city, will be widened shortly.

The road, which witnesses major congestion during rush hour, passes through the busy Daily Market, touching the Plant Site Road, Big Bazaar, the Old Taxi Stand, Uma Takies and ends at Bisra.

The road lies in the main business district and houses important business establishments. Traffic management on this busy is a Herculean task for police.

The additional district magistrate of Rourkela, K.S. Chakrovorthy, has taken the initiative to widen the busy road.

"The road is going to be widened at any cost and I am making arrangements for funds," said Chakrovorthy. He said the public works department (PWD) had prepared an estimate and funds would not be a problem.

Chakrovorthy said: "If needed, we will go for an eviction drive to widen the road."

Some shopkeepers have encroached on the pavements by the road.

During the construction of a drain, Chakrovorthy had instructed the PWD officials to widen the road. But they expressed their inability due to paucity of funds.

"The ADM asked us to widen the road when we were constructing a drain and this was being done from the non-plan expenditure fund and we had no cash. He said funds would not be a problem and asked us for an estimate," said Deepak Tripathy, an executive engineer with PWD.

The widening of the road along with the drain will cost around Rs 5.6 crore.