Accidents on National Highway No. 149 are increasing day- by- day due to hundreds of trucks standing on both sides of the road from Talcher's Godibandha to Chainpal overbridge. Even though there were many plans to make this road four lane earlier, it could not be implemented till now.
The National Highway No. 149 stretching from Talcher to Banarpal is very narrow. Every day, more than 5,000 trucks load coal from different coal mines of Talcher and move to different parts of the State on the road.
The road remains jammed mainly due to the parking of trucks on the road side. Because of the jam, it takes six hours instead of three hours for the passenger buses to come from Cuttack to Talcher and for a biker it takes at least two hours instead of 20 minutes. Anyone traveling through the road for any urgent work suffers untold misery.
Similarly, ambulances carrying serious patients on the road to the SCB Medical College and Hospital, or any private hospitals in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar get stuck on the road for hours, often putting the patient's life at risk.
The administration has taken various measures to avoid traffic problems, but no one is paying attention. The people of the villages along the road from Talcher to Chainpal are also unable to move conveniently. As a result, the villagers of Angarua, Talbeda, Remuan, Talcher bypass area, Ballhar, Santhpada, Nuapada, Dighi, Anandbazar, Gurjanguli and Chainpal have expressed their discontentment and urged the administration to sort out the issue.
Even though the district and local administrations and the police are holding frequent meetings to solve the traffic problem, there is no improvement so far. The locals have opined for alternative roads to divert coal laden trucks from the national highway. Similarly, since Bankdhara Street near Talcher town has become most dangerous, it is necessary to take measures to ensure smooth flow of traffic on it, said many residents here.