Sambalpur: Mudipada Chowk Road Closed for 10 Days, Drainage Work Unfinished for 3 Months; Irregular Contractor Becomes Major Issue
Sambalpur: The road from Mudipada Chowk to Samaleswari Temple has remained closed for the past 10 days. The reason is that a new drainage system is being built by cutting across the main road.
Slow Progress of Drainage Construction
Although the drainage work started almost three months ago, the construction is still incomplete. The Public Works Department (PWD) had assigned a contractor, but he is not working continuously. Instead, he frequently stops work halfway. Whenever local people protest, the workers return, work for a day or two, and disappear again.
Moreover, locals have complained that the workers hardly work for two hours a day, causing months of delay. In the first two and a half months, only the drains on both sides of the road were constructed.
Road Cut for New Drain, Traffic Blocked
From the 15th of last month, the authorities dug across the road to build another drain, leaving the road completely unusable. Therefore, it has now been 10 days since the road was blocked.
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As construction is progressing extremely slowly, locals fear it may take another month or even more to complete the work. Thus, the road is expected to remain closed for a longer period.
Major Inconvenience for Commuters and Patients
Since this road is located in the heart of the city, the closure has caused severe inconvenience to the local residents, students, daily commuters, and tourists visiting Samaleswari Temple.
Even worse, ambulances carrying critical patients from the District Headquarters Hospital to Burla Hospital are now forced to take long detours, causing delays in emergency treatments.
Protest Against Poor Management
Today, Anil Kumar Nayak, the district in-charge of the Bahujan Samaj Party, met the District Collector to protest against this mismanagement. He submitted a memorandum, demanding that the PWD immediately complete the drainage work and restore normal traffic movement on the road.
