Odisha: Work on Silk City road to start soon

BERHAMPUR: Construction of a 2.6-km road from the sub-registrar’s office to mango market in Berhampur, which has remained incomplete for the past five years, will start soon as the tender process is in the final stage.
“The tender of the Rs 26 crore road project is now in its final stage. The work will start probably after Dussehra, after finalization of the tender,” said Bankim Panda, executive officer, PWD, Berhampur-II.
Construction of the road along with drains via Prem Nagar was started by Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) in 2017 under the World Bank-funded Odisha Disaster Recovery Project (ODRP). The work, however remained, incomplete after the World Bank withdrew from the project in 2020 due to the delay in execution.
Last year, the state government decided to handover the project to the public works department for its quick completion. However, the tender was withdrawn last year, when at least two bidders who had shown interest, were rejected due to some technical problem.
A group of youths on Friday staged a protest near the sub-registrar’s office demanding completion of the road and drains.
“Hundreds of commuters, schoolchildren and residents face difficulty due to the delay in completion of the project. Motorists are also facing trouble while driving on this stretch of the road with frequent accidents taking place,” said B Sabat, one of the agitators.
Kanhu Charan Pati, former Ganjam district BJP president, said his party would also launch an agitation for early completion of the road.