CUTTACK: Peeved over obstruction of traffic caused by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded Odisha Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (OISIP) that is being carried out by Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB), residents of Kalyan Nagar in the city have threatened to stage dharna on December 14.
The residents said owing to the apathy of the administration, the locality lacks basic communication affecting 13,000 people. The 800-metre stretch of road leading to Kalyan Nagar has been lying obstructed for the last two months. Since the road has been dug up at several places for laying underground sewerage chambers, vehicles including ambulances and school buses cannot ply on it.
Locals said a few days back, the family of a senior citizen, who fell sick, had to shift him to an ambulance on a motorcycle as the vehicle could not enter the area. “There is also an alternate road connecting Taladanda canal from Ranihat to Kalyan Nagar via Chhatra Bazaar, Matru Bhawan and Andarpur which can be used by ambulances and school buses.
But due to gross negligence and callousness of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), the road has also been encroached by vegetable vendors near Chhatra Bazaar,” said social activist Abhay Patnaik. He said the locals have been urging the civic body for the last one month to carry out an eviction drive on the road to ensure free flow of traffic, it has not yielded the desired result.
Patnaik said residents of Kalyan Nagar would stage a dharna in front of Samrat Cinema on December 14 to protest the apathy of CMC. Project Engineer, OISIP, Manoranjan Jena said it would take 15 more days to complete the ongoing chamber work, while CMC enforcement officer Ajay Mohanty said he would take necessary steps for eviction of roadside vegetable stalls.
