SAMBALPUR: Continuous rainfall over the past week has sparked concerns over rockfall and landslides at Laxmi Dungri along Sambalpur-Bargarh stretch of NH-53 even as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has recently floated a tender for a long-pending slope protection project aimed at addressing the recurring hazard.
Following four days of incessant rain last week, small rocks have already started falling from the hill, while the soil has become saturated, raising fears of larger landslides. Every monsoon, falling rocks and debris from Laxmi Dungri hill force authorities to close one side of the highway between Durgapali and the Mahanadi bridge, reducing traffic to a single lane. The arrangement has led to several accidents, including fatal ones, in previous years.
Located between Sambalpur and Burla, Laxmi Dungri is part of the busy Mumbai-Kolkata NH-53 corridor which witnesses thousands of vehicles every day.
Sources said during construction of the four-lane highway, a portion of the hill was extensively cut, making the slope vulnerable to erosion and rockfall during monsoon. To provide a permanent solution, the NHAI had proposed construction of a 300-metre tunnel from the rockfall-prone stretch up to Mahanadi bridge. The proposal was sent to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways but later dropped in 2024 in favour of a revised engineering solution.
The NHAI subsequently engaged a team from IIT Bhubaneswar to prepare a fresh design. Instead of cutting through the hill, the revised proposal recommended stabilising the slope by grading it and creating a drainage system to safely channel rainwater, a solution expected to be more economical than the tunnel project. After the design was approved, a fresh detailed project report (DPR) was prepared and submitted to the Ministry.
While no visible development has taken place on the ground, official sources said the project has now entered the implementation stage with NHAI floating a tender for ‘slope protection work at Laxmi Dungri’ on July 15. The work has been estimated at Rs 17.32 crore and carries a completion period of six months. Financial bids are scheduled to be opened on September 1.
Confirming the development, NHAI project director Amit Gupta said, “The tender has already been floated and work is expected to commence by September 15 this year.”
While the tender marks significant progress towards addressing the long-standing hazard, commuters are likely to remain vulnerable during the ongoing monsoon until the slope protection measures are executed and completed.
