The locals on Tuesday stopped bitumen laying work at road construction site of Ratha danda in Tulashikhetra following the contract company laid bitumen on water logged road.
The locals protested the substandard work in breach of the guidelines and norms in the ongoing road construction work. They alleged that the R and B department officials were not coming to inspect the road construction work.
Shivam Condev Private limited has been awarded the contract work from the R and B department and the Bhubaneswar -based ARSS company is doing the road construction work.
Though in the project it was decided to construct drain on the road side, but it is not done. As a result, rain water inundates the area without any passage for release. Even, rain water enters into some of the local houses due to lack of drainage facilities.
The height and the leveling of the road is not maintained properly, stated councilor Kaliprasad Mishra of Ward no-1 of Kendrapada Municipality.
According to Executive Engineer of R and B department MR Khan, the foundation stone of the bitumen road construction of Ratha danda was laid by local MlA Kishore Chandra Tarei on January 7 last. In the 800 meter long Ratha danda road, from Mausima temple to Baladevjew temple at Tulashikhetra, construction is going on at an estimated amount of Rs6.68 crore. The R and B department has entrusted the Shivam Condev Private limited Company to carry out the road construction work. But later, the ARSS company has been engaged to do the road work. The wide of the road in the project is 45 meters whereas drainage facilities would be made under the project.
On Tuesday, the ARSS company came with bitumen to lay on the road construction site. later, the contract company workers started laying bitumen on the waterlogged road, though the JE of R and B asked them to stop the laying of bitumen. This resulted in sparking off protest.