Rourkela: Locals block NH-143 seeking road repair

ROURKELA: Traffic on NH-143 was disrupted for 12 hours with the residents of Birmitrapur, bordering Jharkhand, blocking the highway passing through the town seeking its immediate repair.  The protestors under the banner of Birmitrapur Bikash Manch (BBK) laid seige to the highway passing through the town from dawn to dusk owing to which movement of vehicles to and from Jharkhand was severely affected.

Birmitrapur municipality chairman Sandeep Mishra said a 4.7 km stretch of the highway passing through the town is lying damaged. “The locals have now run out of patience even as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been giving false assurances of repairing the stretch,” he said. 

Earlier on Sunday, officials of the district adminstration and NHAI officials failed to convince the local leaders to call off the road blockade. Sources said the NHAI had floated a tender for repair of the highway on July 20 this year. The highway passing through the town is 7-12 metre in width at some patches. As some shop and building owners of the town had protested widening of the highway, it remains a two-lane stretch. 

As an alternative to the highway, a proposal to construct a four-lane by-pass road of 5 km length from Talsara to Bhalulata via Deokaran Dafai was included in package one of the NH-143 upgradation project. However, the project was shelved a few months back due to issues. 

The agitation was called off after NHAI authorities told the protestors that the final bid for repair of the NH was opened on Monday and assured to start the work at the earliest. BJD town president Kuna Deo, BJP leader Sunil Tiwari and social activist Jagdish Agarwal participated in the agitation.