Khuntuni-Narasinghpur road works delayed

The road widening work from Khuntuni to Narasinghpur in Cuttack district has been hampered due to noncooperation of different Government departments.

As per reports, in 2012 the State Government had sanctioned the widening or roads from Khuntuni to Narasinghpur at a cost of Rs 139 crore.

The Ahmadabad-based Sadvavana Group has been entrusted to undertake the project. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with the then Minister and Badamba MLA Debi Prasad Mishra had inaugurated the project at Narasinghpur.

The contract firm had started its working in 2014. Since the project covers two Assembly constituencies of Badamba and Athagarh, it was also again inaugurated at Athagarh by local MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain.

Allegedly the road contract firm came under scanner for alleged link with the D brothers and finally quit the project. Then, the State

Government assigned the task to the Odisha-based contract firm of RKD in 2015 with a target to finish it before March 31, 2016.

The CESU was assigned to shift the electric polls from the roadside,

Forest Corporation to cut the trees, PHD to shift the pipelines. All four tehsildars of Athagarh, Tigiria, Badamba and Narsinghpur and R and B SDOs were assigned for eviction work to assist the contractor in finishing the project. But till date, the work remains in limbo due to noncooperation of all these departments.

Talking to this paper, officers engaged by the RKD said that they were trying to finish it as early as possible. Especially, they faced difficulty in Athagarh town where some influential persons by dint of their strong lobby have stopped eviction for which roads in Athagarh town has become much narrower than its estimated 10 metres width.

Moreover, the Athagarh NAC doesn’t clear the drains in the name of the ongoing project for which in recent rains the road and surrounding areas remained inundated.

Meanwhile, the local intelligentsia has sought intervention of the district Collector.