BJP leader and former Deputy Speaker of State Assembly Rama Chandra Panda has strongly demanded constitution of a high-level committee to probe the inordinate delay in completion of the road from Brahmapur to the tourist destination Taptapani and from Taptapani to Paralakhemundi via Mohana and Udayagiri.
He said at a Press conference at Paralakhemundi that though the construction work of the road was initiated in 2009 at a cost of Rs 100 crore for completion within three years, it still remains incomplete and is in a haphazard state even after six long years leading to cost escalation. The patch from Berhampur to Taptapani is in a shambles as the earth and culvert works are yet to be completed.
Several patches of work abandoned by a contractor is now undertaken by another contractor, for which a consistent progress of the work is lost and the quality of the work is compromised, Panda said. Similarly, the construction of the patch from Mohana to Paralakhemundi is facing a state of uncertainty.
Panda said the Government is equally responsible for the neglect of an all-Odisha road via Mahendragiri-Barkut Pass (foot hills of Mahendragiri) since a patch of only 10 km could not be completed even within ten long years. Though he has met all the three successive Collectors of Gajapati district demanding early completion of these roads, the plea remain unheeded, he pointed out. He alleged that neither the Department’s Secretary nor the Collectors have ever monitored the works closely, for which he demanded a high-level inquiry into the lapses and unaccountability for negligence towards public interest.
Panda also criticised the Government’s apathy towards the State’s second oldest Degree College, the SKCG College of Paralakhemundi, by not filling up half of the posts of faculty for years which has led to deterioration of quality in education affecting the future of the students. He further demanded that this heritage college be declared as a Deemed University from the current academic session in the best interest of the region.