Rourkela: Residents of South Rourkela have demanded construction of a flyover from Tarkara to Hanuman Vatika to enable them to travel to the main city as the 2.5 km long Deogaon-Sarna Chhak Road has been closed down.
The residents comprising senior citizens and intellectuals described their problems due to the closure of the Road. They said the closure of the road reflects the administration’s negligence towards the people in south of the city.
Former MLA Rabi Dehuri, Fakir Charan Hota, Rahas Bihari Mohapatra, educationist Biswanth Das, lawyer Bijay Harichandan and Sanjay Bal asked why they should take a detour through the Panposh Hockey Square and cover thrice the distance to reach the city.
Their argument appears sound as Rourkela has been declared a Smart City and the authorities are spending a lot on its development.
Traders Subhash Patra, social activist Prasanna Tripathy, locals Ajay Mantri, Sudam Meher, Aniruddh Swain, Ranju Mohanty and Sarat Mohanty asked why they should remain cut off from the main town. They said the closed road used to be the main road for them to connect to the Steel City.
They said around two lakh people from Bonaigarh to the fertilizer township depend on the Deogaon-Sarna Chhak Road. Government officials, private sector employees, school and college teachers, students, farmers and traders were using the road for the last 50 years.
The closure of the road has hit them hard and has put their livelihoods at stake. In the absence of an alternative they have to take a detour through the Panposh Hockey Square and cover thrice the distance to reach the main town.
The decision of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) authorities to leave a lane for them has led to resentment among the residents of South Rourkela as well as the residents of seven panchayats in Lathikata block.
While some of them take the lane others travel by Tarkara Road or through Panposh Hockey Square to reach the main town. They said when flyovers have been constructed in other parts of the state why the facility is not being given to them.
PNN
