Boudh: A stretch of 120 km road between Manmunda and Badla in Boudh district along Khurda-Bolangir national highway has turned into a deathtrap. The stretch ash claimed 182 lives in past four years.
According to reports, big potholes and rough patches on the national highway cause utter difficulties for commuters passing through the stretch. It gives a tough time to drivers and even commuters find it difficult to gauge the depth of potholes filled with rainwater, posing a serious threat to lives of people most of the days.
Worthy to note, 594 road accidents have occurred on this stretch of national highway during the same period. Similarly, 141 persons were known to have critically injured and 549 others had partial injuries.
The district police said, 35 persons in 2016, 49 persons in 2017, 46 persons in 2018 and 52 persons in 2019 died in road accidents. Even as the construction of Sambalpur-Cuttack national highway is under way, the traffic snarls have substantially increased on Khurda-Bolangir national highway, a report said.
This national highway connects the Ranchi-Vijayawada national highway which passes through Rairakhol on a bridge-crossroad over river Mahanadi in Boudh and also connects with Kandhamal through Chari Chhaka of Harabhanga block.
Hundreds of heavy vehicles, passenger buses, cars, ambulances and bikes pass through this highway every day. There are no safe traffic control arrangements in the busy and snarled spots like Manmunda, Baunsuni, Sahajapal, Boudh town, Puruna Katak and Chari Chhaka areas of the district, to control traffic snarls.
In such a situation, laying of bypass roads at Boudh and Puruna Katak areas has been left halfway. Likewise, the Manmunda bypass under way for past several years lies incomplete, due to disputes.
It was also alleged that the narrow bridges built over national highways often cause road accidents. Although, expansion of some narrow bridges has been taken up by local authorities, local people have expressed deep concern over the ever increasing trend of accidents.
Identification of accident-prone spots and necessary arrangement for traffic signaling, early completion of road construction and expansion of narrow bridges could help avert accidents, locals opined.