Locals allege gross irregularities in repair work of NH-26

Jeypore: Irregularities in repair work of NH-26, particularly the Koraput-Jeypore-Borigumma stretch, have come to the fore after an e-complaint was lodged with the Union Ministry of Road Transport.

As per the complaint, the local engineer put patches on the damaged road without doing the proper road work. Following this, the Koraput-Jeypore-Borigumma stretch has become accident-prone and a death trap for commuters of NH-26.

The stretch was reportedly repaired in 2013-14 and afterwards, only patch works were carried out on the road.

On the other hand, on October 4, the Jeypore NH executive engineer had informed the higher ups that the condition of road was good.

“Adequate funds have been sanctioned for the NH-26 and the State government has submitted a report saying that the repair work is going on perfectly. But the ground reality is different,” said Basant Patra, the complainant.

Expressing similar views, Tejeshwara Panda, a resident of Jeypore, said, “For the past five years, money has been spent on patch work. However, wrong information is being provided to the NHAI on the stretch.”

Now that the complaint has been lodged, the road repair work from Laxmi Indira Panda Chhak to Gandhi Chhak, under the Urban Link Scheme, is underway in a hurried manner, alleged locals.

Refuting the charges, NH division (Jeypore) executive engineer Harekrushna Panda, said, “A proposal has been given for road repair work from Borigumma to Jeypore and the work will begin soon.”