Sambalpur: Illegal parking and Illegal occupation of Toll road

Sambalpur: State Highway 10. Two decades ago, the government extended it and collected tolls for decades and a few years after the closure of the toll, it has been converted into Biju Express and toll is being collected from three places between Sambalpur and Rourkela. It has been alleged that the toll collection road has turned into a traffic jam instead of a smooth road for pedestrians.

Pedestrians are paying tolls as a four-way road, but in reality it is no longer a two-way road. The reason for this is that thousands of coal-laden trucks are doing 24-hour illegal parking on both sides of the road from Rengali to Jharsuguda. Even two-wheelers are difficult to move due to the three-level queue of trucks on the side of the road. Even though the accident occurs frequently, the administration is silent as if the industrial group has sold its head in the hand.

The death of 8 people in a fatal road accident on Sambalpur-Jharsuguta road on Friday night has disturbed all the people. 8 families have been destroyed while these workers are returning home after working in the factory for survival. This is not the first time. Even though many such accidents occur on this road every day and many people lose their lives, no one is taking steps to prevent it. There is no need to even look for the reason.

In fact, people have been complaining for a long time that illegal parking on the highway road from Rengali to Jharsuguda is mainly responsible for this accidents. All the coal-carrying vehicles of all the industries on this road are occupying half of the road as if they were the boss of the road. Due to thousands of trucks parking in two to three rows on both sides of the road, the road is becoming one way. The situation is such that it is becoming difficult to drive on all these roads in a two-wheeler. It is not a matter of one or two days, but even though such illegal parking have been going on for years, the police administration has remained calm. It is regrettable that no steps are taken to remove the illegal ones while the cameras are being installed on this road and fines of up to Rs 2,000 are being charged for speeding. As a result, discontent among the people is increasing.