BARIPADA : Residents of Rairangpur municipality are a disgruntled lot as the delay in construction of a bypass road has worsened traffic congestion in their area since a long time.
Locals complained Rairangpur town witnesses around 10-15 road mishaps on a daily basis due to improper traffic management. They said thousands of vehicles including iron-laden trucks move through the town daily as the Ranchi-Vijayawada national highway-220 is close to it. “We had appealed to the district police to strengthen traffic management in the town to curb the frequent road accidents but to no avail,” they rued.
Locals Tushar Mohanta and Sujit Pattnaik informed that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) authorities had assured of constructing an 8-km bypass road between Purnapani and Bhalubasa during an inspection last year to curb traffic congestion but there are no signs of commencement of work even after so long.
“There are many mines located under Rairangpur sub-division owing to which iron-laden trucks move through the town on a daily basis leading to traffic congestion. The situation worsens during 9 am to 11 am and again between 3 pm and 6 pm everyday. Even ambulances get stuck in traffic,” Pattnaik said adding, the situation gets unmanageable at Golei Chowk and Biju Patnaik Chowk as several iron-laden trucks are parked on the roadside.
Two police personnel are engaged at Golei Chowk and Biju Patnaik Chowk to manage traffic but it has not served the purpose, the locals added. BJP’s Rairangpur MLA Naba Charan Majhi said he has sent several letters to Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari appealing construction of the bypass road. “The construction work is being delayed due to the apathy of the state government since it is not keen to acquire the private land located on the proposed bypass road stretch,” he alleged.