The slow pace of development work, including repair of roads, de-silting of drains, maintenance of parks and green belts across the city has left residents worried about yet another monsoon full of troubles. The monsoon is approaching fast and once it begins there would be no scope for repairing roads, forcing residents to drive through bumpy, waterlogged streets, full of potholes.
When contacted, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials came up with their standard response: “Tender for repairs and other development work has been given out, work will begin soon.”
With the ongoing sewage work in the city, roads are already in a precarious condition. “Even though the sewage work is over in many parts of the city, the roads are not being repaired. Many accidents are occurring every day due to the bad roads but no one is paying any attention. Once rain starts, the roads will turn into small mud ponds,” said Purna Chandra Nayak, a resident of Behera Sahi in Nayapalli area.
A senior BMC officer, however, said contractors have been issued notices to complete the works within the given time frame. “Except a few areas, road repair work has started in most places and will be completed within a month. But where sewage board work is going on it may take some time. We are also trying to complete de-silting of all major drains before the arrival of monsoon,” said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
Residents seem to have little faith in BMC’s promise though. “The BMC had constructed roads just before the monsoon earlier and the roads were washed away immediately in the rain. Work is on at all major roads in the city, including interior roads. With a few days left for the arrival of monsoon, how can they manage to complete the work on time,” questioned Bharati Mishra, a resident of Saheed Nagar area.
