By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Chief Secretary Sri Suresh Chandra Mahapatra reviewed the progress of construction of three-Lane Road Over Bridge (RoB), near Vani Vihar at a meeting held at Lokseva Bhawan today. He directed concerned officials of Rail Vikash Nigam Limited (RVNL) to commence the work in the first week of February next year immediately after the Hockey World Cup is over.
To avoid traffic congestion during matches of Hockey World Cup, it is very pertinent to postpone the dismantle of the old two-lane RoB and construction of a new three-lane RoB in that place, he said. Earlier, it was decided to construct a three-lane RoB dismantling the old one to pave way for construction of third rail line of Khurda-Barang section of East Coast Railway. A new two-lane RoB is built adjacent to old one and has been commissioned since 15th of this month.
There was a necessity to dismantle the old two-lane RoB as the third line rail link was on its alignment. Out of 32 km long Khurda- Barang line, a total of 26 km track has been made and construction of remaining 6 Km rail line between Bhubnaeswar- Mancheswar will take place after demolition of old RoB, Chief Project Manager of RVNL Sri Pradeep Kumar Mohanty said. This is regarded as super critical project and total cost for third rail line is 581 crore. The three-lane RoB will be commissioned in a year, he asserted.
It is worthy to note that traffic diversion will be made on new two-lane RoB during construction of second one. Vehicular movement will resume on three-lane RoB after its construction and adjacent two-lane RoB will be used as service road in neighbourhood areas of Rasulgarh.
The chief secretary also reviewed the plan for modernization of Bhubaneswar Railway Station. The developmental activities will take place on either sides i.e. Kalpana and Master Canteen sides of Bhubaneswar Railway station as per plan submitted by ECoR. Sri Mahapatra instructed the ECoR officials to consult with BDA before any construction activities.
Commissioner Railway Coordination Sri Manoj Kumar Mishra, Commissioner of Police Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Sri Saumendra Priyadarshi, BMC Commissioner Sri Vijay Amruta Kulange, BDA Vice Chairman Sri Balwant Singh, DRM, Khurda Road Division Sri Rinkesh Roy, Chief Engineer of ECoR along with other senior officers were also present.
