Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 14: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) much-touted plan of developing three modern foot overbridges (FOB) in the city has lost its sheen because of the tardy pace of work.
Only two FOBs would be developed — one at Jaydev Vihar and the other at Master Canteen. The third one, which was to come up at Ramadevi Womens’ College, has been caught in legal wrangles and it may take some time for the problem to be resolved.
Ironically, the foundation stones of the FOBs at Jaydev Vihar and Master Canteen were laid in 2011 but the civic body has not bothered to push for the deadlines being maintained.
Work on the FOB at Master Canteen is also yet to start.
Work on the Jaydev Vihar FOB is going on at a tardy pace for the past one year. The civic body had engaged a Cuttack-based firm to execute the project. The former would not have to spend anything as advertisement rights have been given to the company.
Only a section of the Jaydev Vihar FOB has been built and the work is now stalled for unknown reasons. The work was to be completed by the end of 2014 but BMC did not exert pressure on the agency to adhere to the deadline.
“A contract has been signed with the firm for 20 years, which means the agency has got the advertisement rights and it will have to pay the BMC for using the exterior of FOBs for commercial purposes,” an official said. The firm can utilise 400 sq ft space of each FOB for displaying commercial advertisements, he said.
BMC deputy commissioner Srimant Mishra was not available for comment.
