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2Lane Roads@Blocks

Bhubaneswar: In an aim to strengthen the road connectivity in rural areas also, the State Government has set an ambitious target to construct two lane roads to all block Headquarters by June 2014.

This was informed by Works Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallik while speaking to media following the departmental revenue meeting taken by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday. Vir Vikram Yadav, Principal Secretary, Works Department was present on the occasion.

Shri Patnaik reviewed the implementation of the election manifesto–2019, discussed the achievements of the Department in the last two decades and the achievement in the last four years.

Addressing the media at Geeta Govinda Sadan, Shri Mallik said that 267 block headquarters have been provided with 2-lane road connectivity while 26 more block headquarters will be connected by March 2024. Remaining 21 block headquarters are targeted to be connected with 2-lane roads by June 2024, he said.

Similarly, all Municipal Corporations, 46 Municipalities and 63 NACs have been provided with all-weather 2-lane roads.

Shri Mallik said that the Biju Expressway (length – 546 km) from North to South connecting Rourkela to Ampani has been completed in record time.  Biju Expressway-II (length – 318 km) connecting Berhampur to Jeypore is being taken up.

Biju Expressway is not just a road but an economic corridor which will enhance socio-economic growth of the southern & western Odisha, he said.

Roads with a total length of 6,800 km have been constructed as against the assurance of 1000 km, this is exceptional and 680% above the target. For this, Rs.18,500 crore has been spent, the Minister informed.

Besides, 55 major industrial clusters such as Indian Ordnance Factory in Bolangir district, Bhusan Steel Ltd in Dhenkanal district, Sabitri Industries (P) Ltd in Jajpur district, Vedanta Limited in Jharsuguda district, TATA Steel Ltd., Ferro Alloys Plant in Keonjhar district, Rourkela Steel Plant, Rourkela etc. have been provided with 2-lane/ 4-lane connectivity.  Besides, 15 roads have been taken up to connect industrial clusters.

Minister Shri Mallik also said that 12 major tourist places of importance such as Chandipur, Talasari in Balasore district, Lalitgiri in Cuttack district, Taratarini in Ganjam district, Chilika, Dhauli and Salia Dam in Khordha district, Daringbadi in Kandhamal district, Gupteswar in Koraput district, Satapada in Puri district, Huma in Sambalpur district and Ghoghar in Sundargarh district have been connected with 2-lane roads.

Besides, 5 other tourist spots have been planned for providing 2-lane connectivity by March 2024.

The Government has developed 50 wayside amenities centres and handed over to Mission Shakti Department, to be maintained by Women SHGs. This will be first of its kind model in the country, he pointed out.

New ring roads have been planned for execution in important towns such as Bhadrak, Berhampur, Baripada, Balasore, Bhawanipatna, Balangir, Bargarh, Cuttack, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur.

The Minister informed that in the last two decades, the total road length of the Works Department has almost doubled from 16,041 km to 31,317 km.

In the last two decades, as many as 521 bridges have been completed including 12 bridges across river Mahanadi, 5 across Brahmani, 6 across Baitarani, 3 across Budhabalanga and 3 across Kharasrota.

The long awaited Gurupriya bridge connecting Swabhiman Anchal has also been completed. Minister highlighted that in the last four years the following important projects have also been executed by the Department, he added.

The Works Department has been constructing three medical colleges at Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Puri at a cost of Rs.770 crore. Two of which will be completed by December 2023.

Similarly, three District Headquarter Hospitals (DHHs) at Kendrapada, Nayagarh and Nawarangpur have been completed at a cost of Rs.155 crore and 7 will be completed by 2023.

Mallik said one teaching hospital at Keonjhar has been completed at a cost of Rs 116 crore, whereas 7 other such facilities will be completed by 2023 & another by April 2024.

The Department has targeted to complete construction of two cancer care hospitals by December 2023, one by January 2024, four by May 2024 and three by July 2024.

To boost Sports activities, 44 Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadiums have been completed and another 41 projects will be completed by July 2023.

In the last four years, 62 bridges have been completed for a length of 18201 m at a cost of Rs.1053 crore.

Besides, 12 ROBs of total length 6199 m at a cost of Rs.705 crore and 1 flyover of length 1880 m at a cost of Rs.119 crore have been completed in the State. Further, 118 bridges and 23 ROBs are in progress.

Some of the important bridges completed are: Nelson Mandela Bridge at Sambalpur, T-bridge at Singhanath Pitha over river Mahanadi, Bridge over River Mahanadi at Dholpur, Boudh, Bridge over River Brahmani at Kaluria, Dhenkanal, Bridge over river Budhabalanga at Balasore.

The part of Vijaywada–Ranchi Corridor from Motu of Malkangiri district to Tiring of Mayurbhanj district for a length of 1200 km has been completed at a cost of Rs.1,872 crore in the year 2021. It passes through 12 districts of Odisha i.e. Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Boudh, Angul, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj.

Two airports at Jeypore and Utkela have been constructed at a cost of Rs. 300 crore while Airport at Rangeilunda is under development at a cost of Rs.100 crore. New airport at Malkangiri is under construction at a cost of Rs.74 crore and will be completed by November 2023.

The Department has also completed 31 Bridge-cum-Check Dam projects for enhancing storage of water in the streams for use during the dry seasons as well as for recharging of ground water.

Jamujhadi – Basudevpur – Dhamra Road (length – 60.47 km) serves un-interrupted access to Dhamara Port and DRDO facility at Kalam Island at Chandipur.

The Minister further informed that ABADHA scheme was launched with an aim at developing Puri into a World Class Heritage City with a total cost of Rs.4224 crore. Till now, 21 projects have been approved under the scheme.

Development of Maa Samaleswari Temple envisages to enhance Devotee’s Experience and develop Samaleswari into a major pilgrim centre in Odisha. The development plan covers 30 acres of area including development of the Mahanadi ghats with a project cost of Rs.193 crore. Target was set to complete the project by November 2023.

EKAMRA scheme was taken up with an aim at reviving and preserving the heritage value and grandeur of Lingaraj Temple and its surroundings. The project cost is Rs.214 crore.