Bhubaneswar: Expressing concern over the delay in completion of road-over-bridge (ROB) projects in the state, Union railway ministry has asked the state government to complete the projects on priority basis.
This directive of the Union government came in the backdrop of the collapse of a portion of the ROB near Bomikhal, where one person was killed and 12 others were injured. The ROB was supposed to be completed by December 2012, but it is yet to see the light of the day. The mishap again put breaks in the progress of the work.
Principal executive director (bridge) of Railway Board Piyush Agarwal has recently written a letter to Orissa chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi asking him to issue directions to the officials concerned to complete the nine ROB and RUB projects on priority basis. Agarwal also requested the chief secretary to close down level-crossings opened at the nine locations.
The ROBs that are yet to be completed are located on the roads— Berhampur-Gopalpur, Man Gobindpuri, Dhenkanal-Sadasibpur, Bhudapank-Talcher, Bhubaneswar-Retang, Gangadharpur-Balugaon, Saheednagar-Bomikhal, Jagannathpur-Berhampur and Berhampur-Golanthra.
Stating that nine such projects are there in Orissa where railway portion has been completed by the railways, but work on approaches is still in progress, Agarwal said, “To ensure early commissioning of the ROB, officials concerned may be directed to complete the work on approaches on priority. Along with this, the level-crossings at these locations need to be closed on completion of the ROB.”
Busy level-crossings are potential safety hazard for both road as well as rail users, more so for road users. Apart from this, interruption to smooth road traffic flow also results in environment and noise pollution, he said, adding, “Hence, it is our prime motto to provide grade-separators (ROBs/RUBs) expeditiously.”
The railway official also drew the attention of Padhi on functioning of two level-crossings, where over-bridges have already been commissioned long ago.
The level-crossings that are not closed even after the completion of ROBs are located on Bhadrak-Ithurda and Korai-Jajpidir-Keonjar roads.
Reacting to the letter of the railway ministry, a senior official of works department said, “Almost all the projects are not completed due to problems in land acquisition. It is very difficult to acquire private land in towns like Bhubaneswar and Berhampur. Besides, we have to relocate utility services like electricity supply lines, drains and telephone connections, which usually delay the projects.”
This apart, the railways is usually implementing only 20 per cent of the projects while the remaining portions are being executed by the works department, said the top official, requesting not to name him.
Official sources said that the chief secretary has also held a review meeting with officials from the East Coast Railway, transport department and works department. During the meeting, the problems in execution were discussed in detail and deadlines have been fixed to complete some of the projects by next March while some others by June 2018, the source said.
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