The condition of the National Highway-16, especially between Simulia and Fuladi, has become extremely precarious because of tardy pace of work in the six laning of the road by the NHAI.

As the construction works have been going on for a long time, commuters have been facing a very tough situation because of the diversions created to facilitate the works. Vehicle movement from either end through only one lane often leads to traffic snarls. As a result, accidents have common.

Reports said the conversion of four- lane to six- lane in about 62 km stretch between Bhadrak and Fuladi had begun in 2019 and a tender was awarded to a private construction company. The completion period was two years, sources said. The company was given another two years to complete the project by 2023. Even after the lapse of four years, only about 40 percent work is completed and the project is facing both time and cost overrun. Now, the project cost has escalated to Rs 1,057.57 crore.

One can see the progress of work at the patches near Markona, Simulia, Talanagar, Soro College, Chhapulia, Dahisada, Bidu, Barikpur, Bahanaga, Bampada ,Remuna Golai, Nuagaon and Mangalpur etc.

The stretch of NH-16 connects Bhubaneswar to Kolkata and daily hundreds of vehicles including buses, lorries and ambulances ply on the road. Due to traffic jams and diversions, time consumed between Baleswar and Bhadrak is at least 90 minutes against average 60-70 minutes. Unregulated flying dust adds to the woes.

Project Director NH, Jay Prakash Verma, stating that the delay of works was due to Corona period constraints, said that efforts were on to complete the remaining works by end of March next year.