Bhubaneswar: The construction of Puri-Bhubaneswar National Highway, started in the year 2015, is still halfway. The work that should have completed before Nabakalebara is still incomplete for which discontentment has been seen in general. Puri Collector also informed that a letter, requesting for alternative measures, has been written to the State Government.
Tourists arriving to Puri are paying toll fees at Puri-Bhubaneswar NH-316. However people have alleged that even if toll fees are taken from them, the road work is nowhere to be seen. While two lane work of Samjajpur Railway Over Bridge (ROB) is still incomplete, the two lane construction work from Harekrushnapur to Mangala Ghat has stalled. On the other hand road work from Mangala Ghat to Sterling Resort has not yet started.
It has also been alleged that while an agreement had been done to plant more trees against the amount of trees felled for the road construction work, not a single tree has been planted till date.
Even if the road work was scheduled to complete before last Nabakalebara, the Samjajpur ROB work is still incomplete. After the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has denied constructing the bypass road from Bira Harekrushnapur to Mangala Ghat, the work remains in uncertainty. Collector Aravind Agrawal said that he has written to the government for an alternative measure.
Talking to media persons Agrawal said, "While NHAI has appointed a construction company to complete the road work from Bhubaneswar to Puri, uncertainty still remains on the construction of the bypass road."