ROURKELA: With just a few months left for the Men’s Hockey World Cup, the Rourkela Smart City Ltd (RSCL) finds itself in a quandary as an important road project has been stopped midway after the contract firm went bankrupt.
The Smart Road Phase 1 project had started in September 2019 with a whopping cost of Rs 20.68 crore (excluding GST) for a stretch of 3.6 km from Gandhi square at Panposh to Ambedkar square at Uditnagar. The project was awarded to Brahmani Engicon Pvt Ltd (BEPL) and the scope of work included the redevelopment of the road along with junction designing at Panposh and Uditnagar, paved footpath with tactile, underground cabling, signage installation, roadside beautification and landscaping among other things.
Sources said BEPL slowed down the project work around eight months back due to financial mess. From December, the firm completely stopped work. Currently, the city’s main gateway at Panposh presents an ugly picture as the road under the project is in a deplorable condition heaping miseries on commuters.
The road stretch from Agrasen Bhawan to Uditnagar is replete with potholes while the black-topping is peeling off. Roadside beautification has been done partially at some patches. Similarly, paved footpath work is also incomplete. Provision for underground cable ducting has been completed but cables are yet to be fitted.
Sources said if the project is not completed before the hockey World Cup, it would be a huge embarrassment for the government. Surprisingly, the RSCL has made payment to the default contract firm citing completion of around 80 per cent work. While RSCL general manager (Operation) SK Nanda remained incommunicado, chief executive officer and Rourkela ADM Subhankar Mohapatra said after final measurement, the remaining work would be completed with separate arrangement. Efforts have been initiated to blacklist BEPL. The payment made to the firm is much less than the works carried out by it, he added.