Odisha's Sambalpur Ring Road named after Mahatma Gandhi

SAMBALPUR: In a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary, the Ring Road along Mahanadi river in the city was named after the father of the nation on Wednesday. 

The 7.5 km long Ring Road, which originates from Nelson Mandela Chowk and connects National Highway 53 to Laxmi Dungri, will be called Mahatma Gandhi Marg from now on. 

Gandhiji had visited Sambalpur twice on December 22, 1928 and May 5, 1934 and had addressed public meetings on the banks of Mahanadi river near Brahmapura temple ghat.  

The Ring Road was constructed in 1997 with an objective to protect Sambalpur from floods and provide an alternative route to the city from National Highway 53.

The road, owned by the Water Resources department, was widened at a cost of around Rs 23.59 crore by the Public Works Department (PWD). This apart, PWD had also carried out blacktopping work and constructed the median of the road at a cost of around Rs 8 crore in 2017. 

The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation is carrying out beautification work along the road. A stretch of three km from Nelson Mandela Chowk to Samaleswari Temple along the river will be beautified as part of the project at a cost of Rs 3 crore.  

While in the first phase, beautification of the one km stretch from Samaleswari temple to Rajghat was undertaken at a cost of Rs 98.04 lakh, the second phase work from Balibandha to Marwaripada Ghat is underway at a cost of Rs 99 lakh. 

Enforcement Officer of SMC Subhankar Mohanty said all Government departments and Department of Posts will be informed about the naming of the road after Mahatma Gandhi. 

Gandhi Jayanti celebrated across Odisha

OP Jindal School on Wednesday celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with great ardour.

Principal, staff and students of the institution paid floral tributes to the great soul on the occasion amid rendition of melodious ‘Ramdhun’ by the school choir.

The father of the nation was described as a man of great resolution as well as an ardent acolyte of truth, peace and non-violence by Principal Chhanda Charana Das in his address.

A series of activities such as drawing, song and essay writing competitions were held along with a theme-based exemplary enactment of the life of Mahatma Gandhi presented by students of classes -V and VI.

A special quiz contest was organised on the occasion on the school premises by students under the coordination of CCA in-charge Lilly Mohanta and quiz master Dr Imran Perwaiz. 

Jeypore: Rich tributes were paid to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary across Koraput district on Wednesday.

People from different walks of life garlanded the statue of the father of the nation in Koraput town..A ‘Swachhata Abhiyan’ chariot was also flagged off from the town.

It will spread message of cleanliness, use of plastic and preservation of water across the district.  At Jeypore, students took out a procession and appealed to people to maintain cleanliness. 

Dhenkanal: The Dhenkanal district administration on Wednesday named the stretch between Gandhi park and Ganesh Bazar as Mahatma Gandhi Marg. Leaders of political parties and representatives of various associations paid tribute by garlanding on statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi park.

Sambalpur: The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by organising a ‘Fit India Plogging’ run. The combination of jogging and picking up of plastic garbage also marked the ban on single-use plastic which was enforced from Wednesday. The drive started at 7 am from the SMC office here and was flagged off by SMC Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Enforcement Officer. 

Berhampur: To mark Gandhi Jayanti across Ganjam district, ‘Prabhat pheri’, tree plantation and ‘shramdaan’ were held in the city. Naval personnel, families, defence civilians, DSC, NCC, Trainees and students of KV Chilka participated in a Swachhata Abhiyan at INS Chilika to mark the day.