BHUBANESWAR: After already being delayed for over five years, the much-vaunted Lake Neutral project at Satya Nagar is all set to take off this year.
Officials of the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) said tender for the project on the South side of the natural drainage No 10 Satya Nagar has been finalised and the work has been awarded to a Kolkata-based private firm with six months deadline. The project will be executed at an investment of Rs 15 crore.
BSCL CEO Sanjay Kumar Singh has asked the agency and officials to ensure completion of the work within the set deadline, said an official and added that tender for work on the North side of the channel towards Maharishi College will also be finalised soon.
The components of the projects include a 1.5 mtr wide four-lane carriageway with 3 mtr wide median, a 2.5 mtr footpath for pedestrians, a 2.5 mtr wide cycle track, an 8 mtr wide public realm with recreational space, a 5 mtr wide native plantations area along with trees, roadside gardens and public plazas and retaining wall of the storm-water drain.
Notably, development of the Lake Zone was one of the key smart city projects in Bhubaneswar Town Center District (BTCD) area which BSCL had envisaged for revival of drainage channel No 10, a major storm water drainage channel in the city.
BDA City Centre, erstwhile Nicco park, has also been developed along the drainage channel in Acharya Vihar road on an area of 24 acres.
In 2017, the BSCL had planned to develop the Lake Neutral project on 38 acres land along channel no 10 at Janpath road for ecological restoration of the natural drain at an investment of Rs 63 crore.
Accordingly, the Egis India Consulting Engineers Private Limited was roped in by the smart city authorities as consulting partner for development of the project.
Though the project plan was readied in September 2017 and the tender was invited in the subsequent months, the project was put on hold owing to various reasons including delay in land acquisition, environmental clearances, funding and other reasons.
The original plan also included separate storm water channel and sewage channel and water treatment plant. BSCL officials said tender for these works will also be invited in phases.
