Sambalpur: 4 years after the Chief Minister’s announcement, the construction process of Malati Setu started
Where did 3 projects out of 5 gone?
Sambalpur: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited Sambalpur on February 1, 2019, just before the last general election, and inaugurated and laid foundation stones of various projects worth a total of Rs. 700 crore. Among those announced projects, the foundation was laid for many big and small works but no one has the news of those projects today. Then the Chief Minister made a special announcement in connection with 5 projects worth 93 crore rupees.
In a grand gathering organized at Veer Surendra Sai Stadium, the names and prices of all 5 projects were announced. They are Rs.3 crore for upgrading VSS Stadium, 4-lane road from Zilla School to Naxapali at a cost of Rs.40 crore, 4-lane road from Mandelia to Durgapali at a cost of Rs.20 crore, flyover over Malati Jor at a cost of Rs.20 crore and Balibandha at a cost of Rs.10 crore. At Present, all these projects were limited to announcements.
There was a discussion among the people. After 4 years of the Chief Minister’s announcement, no work was done among 5 projects. But for the election year 2024, the process for 2 projects out of 5 has been started.
The construction of a 4-lane road from Jail Chowk to Naxapali, and a small section between Jail Chowk and Dhanupali has been started for a few months. There is a lot of pressing work to be done on this important and busy road, including the removal of encroachment and the acquisition of houses and land. However, since the work on Jail Street has started, people are hopeful that at least one important part of the project will be re-surfaced.
Soil test conducted for construction of long awaited second bridge over Malati Jor
Similarly, in Malti Jor Gunderpur, a suburb of the city, a pole high above the Malti Jor is submerged every year in minor floods. As soon as the 25 gates were opened in Hirakud, the back water of the river flowed in Malati Jor and the water flowed over the said bridge and the traffic was obstructed on the 15th state highway of Sambalpur Sonepur. That is why there was a demand for the construction of a second bridge with a maximum height. When the Chief Minister also announced this, after more than 4 years since the announcement, the soil test work for the said bridge has started today. So it is expected that people will not have to face any more problems during the floods in the coming days. 3 crore rupees could not be available for the VSS stadium. No sign of dualization of Mandelia to Durgapali road and construction of pole at Balibandha has been found so far.
