RAYAGADA: Locals of Kalyansinghpur in Rayagada district have sought the intervention of the Collector to look into substandard construction of 4.7 km road stretch passing through the village.
An amount of `2.7 crore was spent on the construction of the road under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana.
Funds were sanctioned from the Special KBK funds during the tenure of former Collector S B Padhi. Villagers alleged that a contractor was assigned the road construction work but officials of the Rural Works division did not supervise the construction as a result of which, the contractor used substandard materials to build the road. When allegations were raised the contractor resumed work by filling tar on the road with an aim to patch up the damaged parts.
When Collector Guha Punam Tapas Kumar was attending a meeting at the block headquarters on Thursday, villagers met her and submitted a memorandum over the issue. They said instead of using crusher metal, the contractor used a soft variety of stone, which is unfit for road construction work. Recently, the road developed potholes and wide cracks at many places. The Collector assured them to look into the allegation. On the other hand, Junior Engineer Chitta Ranjan Panda refuted the allegation of substandard work.