By SANTOSH MOHANTY
Although Angul district administration has finally approved subcontract of M/S C P Arora Engineers for execution of NH 55 Package 2 spanning Angul to Dhenkanal recently, the extremely slow progress of work has made the route more hazardous than before thereby making it accident prone.
Heaps of crusher particles and other materials deposited at several busy spots on the dilapidated highway for over a month has made it the worst place to drive through during peak hours. If we go by local media reports, as many as 28 accidents have occurred on the route between January-March this year claiming 20 lives. The highway which was once known as the lifeline for the people of Angul has become a dust pollution zone interspersed with ditches.
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| Crusher heap on Panchamahala-Hulurisinga stretch of NH-55 in Angul |
As the four lane work of NH-55 in Angul district is moving at a snail's pace, the completion of highway project might be delayed for over a year.
Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari had assured Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo for completion of the project by June this year, but this has turned out to be false.
Four lane work of nearly fifty percent of 265 km long Cuttack-Sambalpur national highway has been completed so far, the work for which began in 2018. The construction company entrusted with the work became bankrupt during Covid pandemic and withdrew from the work without informing the district administration.
