BHUBANESWAR: Facing tremendous heat over the NH-16 gridlock that left thousands of commuters stranded in the capital city for over five hours on Wednesday, the government on Thursday came out with a statement that it would fast-track four alternative road corridors between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Works minister Prithiviraj Harichandan told mediapersons the four major projects include the 110-km Capital Region Ring Road, the Barang-Jatni road via Daya West Canal, a new Kathajodi bridge and a Barang-NH-16 connecting road. These will be complemented by elevated corridors and expanded urban links to reduce dependence on the existing highway, he said.
The minister, interestingly, also found fault with the previous BJD government for Wednesday’s fiasco saying, the regional party was in power for 24 years but did nothing to improve the Twin City connectivity.
Meanwhile, Cuttack-Barabati MLA Sofia Firdous met the minister at the state secretariat on Wednesday and proposed three additional bridges to further improve connectivity. These include links from Balijatra Ground Ring Road to Chasapada in Choudwar, Bidyadharpur to CDA Sector-11 and Mukameswar (Gopalpur) to Malachandia traffic square.
She also flagged delays in ongoing infrastructure projects, including the Cuttack City Ring Road work at Chahata and road construction at Bidyadharpur, urging their completion before the monsoon.