Ahead of monsoon, works dept gets into road repair mode

Bhubaneswar: The public works department has decided to repair the roads in the urban areas and make them free of potholes, especially, ahead of the monsoon.
A direction in this regard was issued to the field functionaries of the department who have been asked to start identifying roads that have potholes and take up their repair work on a priority basis. In the letter to the superintending and executive engineers of the road and building division of the works department, chief engineer (roads) Tara Prasad Mishra has asked them to complete the repair work and submit the certificate of completion by June 1.
“In view of the monsoon, you are instructed to take up the pothole repair of all roads under your jurisdiction to make the roads safe. The funds available in the annual maintenance plan can be utilised for the repair work,” Mishra stated in the letter.
In the absence of regular repair and maintenance work, several roads in the city have potholes and uneven patches. Needless to say, commuters go through a harrowing time while navigating through such roads. “The roads in major localities like Saheed Nagar, Chandrasekharpur and Baramunda have been in a bad state for years,” Saheed Nagar resident Tripti Jena said. She added, “Even a slight downpour causes trouble for the commuters and if the roads are not repaired before the monsoon, then the situation will become worse.”