BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Government on Wednesday decided to construct an elevated corridor from Raj Bhawan to Nandankanan Zoo to facilitate smooth movement of traffic as vehicular flow on the road has gone up manifold.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who reviewed the activities of Works Department, instructed that the corridor is necessary to decongest traffic which is expected to increase after opening of Kathajodi bridge in February next. Naveen also directed that the department must explore the possibilities of a parallel road along Raj Bhawan-Nandankanan Zoo route to cater to the need of people residing in BDA and Housing Board Complexes, Niladri Vihar, Sailashree Vihar and Kanan Vihar areas of the City.
A major decision taken during the meeting was to upgrade the main roads in all sub-divisions of the State to four lanes. As of now, all roads connecting the district headquarters have been upgraded to four lanes except in Malkangiri district. The CM also instructed that the Biju Expressway stretch from Rourkela to Sambalpur be completed by March, 2017 and the Sohela-Ampani stretch be expedited.
Secretary and Engineer-in-Chief of Works Department NK Pradhan informed the meeting that the all-important Gurupriya Bridge connecting the cut-off areas of Chitrakonda reservoir would be completed by June next. Similarly, the four medical colleges, except the one proposed at Puri, is also targeted to be completed by the same time. Similar deadlines have been set for the bridge over Mahanadi near Nelson
Mandela Square in Sambalpur and the one over Ib river at Jharsuguda.
Pradhan also said construction of 44 way-side amenities centres along the national highways passing through the State is underway. So far, 62 per cent of the budgetary allotment has been utilised and the rest is expected to be used by March next.Chief Secretary AP Padhi and Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan were also present .