BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday demanded that the Centre should complete the remaining work of four-lane highway from Bhubaneswar to Puri (NH 203) without further delay. The project was scheduled to be completed before Nabakalebar festival in July, 2015. But, the balance work of Chandanpur ROB and Puri bypass have not been resumed after the Rath Yatra last year causing traffic inconvenience and public discontentment, the Chief Minister said in a letter to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
Naveen requested personal intervention of Gadkari for completion of the remaining work of the project without delay. “The road is extremely important from the tourism point of view as it connects the State capital with the holy city of Lord Jagannath,” he said. More than 70 per cent of the work was completed and the road was inaugurated by Gadkari on July 9, 2015, before the Rath Yatra. The Chief Minister said toll collection of the partially completed road has also been started from mid-October with full administrative support from the State.