Rourkela: The proposed ring road in the Sundargarh Municipality area remains a distant dream although there is a pressing need for the structure to tackle soil erosion along the banks of Ib River. Soil erosion along the Ib river banks is not a new phenomenon. In the last twenty years the process has only accelerated, and the river has eroded patches of land in many places. This has made the river banks dangerous for those living in the vicinity of the eroded portions and also visitors. Incumbent Sundargarh MLA Yogesh Singh had raised the demand for construction of the ring road nearly twenty years back when he was in the Congress party.
In January 2021, the then chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced the construction of the road encircling Sundargarh town. The government move came soon after Singh joined the BJD. The ring road was supposed to be built for Rs 84 crore and the funds would have been made available from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) pool. It is learnt that Singh had then taken some initiatives to push the proposal following the announcement. “No one knows what happened afterwards. The process slowed down and the status of the file is not known at present,” said a person versed with DMF functioning, while requesting anonymity. The announcement for the ring road had brought cheer to all. Everyone hoped that the foundation stone for the project would be laid at the earliest. Before the three-tier Gram Panchayat elections, foundation stones for two projects – one bridge-cum-barrage at Kudabaga and another barrage at Semina – were laid by Patnaik. However, the exclusion of the foundation laying ceremony for the ring road sparked discontent among the residents. Work on the barrages has started and is going on at a steady pace at present. With the barrages coming up, the water storage capacity of the river will be enhanced extending up to Bhojpur. This will certainly help in easing the water woes of the town.
However, residents and retired soil conservation officials feel this may worsen the soil erosion on either side of the Ib River. “Once the water level increases, there is every possibility it will lead to large-scale soil erosion because of the structure of the soil. The ring road, along with concrete embankment, would have helped in keeping the soil intact,” said a former official.
Moreover, the road would have helped ease the traffic problems in the town to a large extent as a sizable portion of traffic could be diverted on this road. Vehicles to Rourkela would have taken this road instead of plying on the road going through the town, said the residents.
RAJESH MOHANTY, OP
