Black Spots Responsible For Accidents In Old Cuttack-Sambalpur Road, Traffic Management In Shambles

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

The busy old Cuttack-Sambalpur road passing through Bantala under Angul district has become accident prone at several stretches due to absence of traffic management.

Police personnel at Bantala allegedly seem to be little concerned over the issue. The Inspector In Charge of Bantala police station has not taken the required step to field traffic staff at busy intersections of the route.     

A number of black spots have emerged on old Cuttack-Sambalpur road which are responsible for causing deadly accidents in the past few months. Reports said the intersections at Badkera touching NH 55, Bantala square, Sarangpur, Beda, Mahidharpur and Satamile have become dangerous spots for the motorists as well as commuters who prefer to take the route to reach Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Raipur.

The above mentioned spots have witnessed a number of fatal accidents in the recent past in which over a dozen of persons have either died or injured severely. As four lane work of NH 55 passing through Angul, Banarpal and Dhenkanal is being done at a snail's pace, motorists are preferring to commute through Badakera-Bantala-Athagarh old Cuttack-Sambalpur road to avoid potholes and heavy traffic bottlenecks.

Heavy flow of traffic through old Cuttack-Sambalpur road has worsened its condition. A number of stretches of the road have developed cracks with potholes due to sheer pressure of heavy vehicles particularly truck trailers. The PWD, it is alleged, does not take up repair work at regular intervals to keep it motorable free from accidents.    

Mango Tree Leaning Precariously Over Old Cuttack-Sambalpur Road Poses Threat To Life

BY SANTOSH MOHANTY

People of Bantala in Angul district in Odisha have urged the authorities to take immediate measures for  chopping down the big mango tree which is leaning precariously beside the busy Old Cuttack-Sambalpur road for quite some time posing severe threat to human life.

It resembles a situation like the sword of Damocles is hanging over motorists and commuters passing through the route. Villagers said that that it is the responsibility of Public Works Department(PWD)and the State Highway authorities to chop down the tree and added that their lackadaisical attitude has put the lives of commuters in peril.

The tall dry mango tree standing close to Bantala Forest Range Office has huge branches that could crash into the road anytime. Some branches have already fallen on the busy route, but luckily none has been injured, nor any vehicle damaged so far. Locals said the dry branches fall on the road as wind speed increases and no one knows who will become a victim.

Neither Bantala Grampanchayat Sarpanch nor the police nor the forest officials are allegedly seemed to be little worried about the danger that might cost lives of innocent commuters and passerby if the dry mango tree comes down to the road at any time.

This tree was planted on the roadside during British Raj. The Britishers were fond of planting fruit bearing trees alongside the road during their rule.The volume of traffic has been increasing in old Cuttack-Sambalpur road as motorists from cities like Sambalpur, Chhattisgarh, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar prefer this route due to less congestion.

Traffic in National Highway(NH) no 55 that runs through Angul connecting Sambalpur to NH 5 has been badly hit over the years due to four lane work going on at a snail's pace. This has forced the motorists to take the bypass route through Bantala to travel to Bhubaneswar, the Capital city of Odisha and the business hub of Western Odisha, Sambalpur.