Keonjhar: Local villagers have alleged severe irregularities in the Salarapentha-Naupada road laying work at Mahadeijoda panchayat under Sadar block in Keonjhar district Thursday afternoon.
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The kutcha road passes through Naupada mining area and is being constructed by the Mahadeijoda panchayat authorities.
A dilapidated road which was earlier being used by Naupada villagers was neither repaired nor improvised. Murram was laid by giving a cosmetic treatment on a narrow kutcha road which passes through the mining area instead, some Naupada villagers alleged.
The contractor concerned raised a bill after simply leveling the road and laying a thin layer of murram on it. Hundreds of sal trees were unjustifiably felled for this purpose, the villagers added.
A grant of over lakhs of rupees was sanctioned for laying the road from the funds of 14th finance commission. However, only Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 has been spent on the road laying work.
On being contacted, DRDA project director Uddhab Chandra Majhi said, “I will investigate into the alleged low quality of road laying work, which was carried out without an information signage.”
PNN
