Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra today reviewed the progress of the construction of the Three-Lane Road Over Bridge (RoB), near Vani Vihar at a meeting held at Lokseva Bhawan today.
Mahapatra 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 the Hockey World Cup, it is very pertinent to postpone the dismantling 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 the construction of the third rail line of the Khurda-Barang section of the East Coast Railway. A new two-lane RoB is built adjacent to the old one and has been commissioned since the 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 the 32 km long Khurda- Barang line, a total of 26 km of track has been made and construction of the remaining 6 Km rail line between Bhubaneswar- Mancheswar will take place after the demolition of old RoB, Chief Project Manager of RVNL Pradeep Kumar Mohanty said.
This is regarded as a supercritical project and the total cost for the third rail line is ₹581 crore. The three-lane RoB will be commissioned in a year, he asserted.
It is worth noting that traffic diversion will be made on the new two-lane RoB during the construction of the second one. Vehicular movement will resume on the three-lane RoB after its construction and the adjacent two-lane RoB will be used as a service road in neighbourhood areas of Rasulgarh.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the plan for the modernization of the Bhubaneswar Railway Station. The developmental activities will take place on either side i.e. Kalpana and Master Canteen sides of Bhubaneswar Railway station as per the plan submitted by ECoR.
Mahapatra instructed the ECoR officials to consult with BDA before any construction activities.
Commissioner, Railway Coordination Manoj Kumar Mishra, Commissioner of Police Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Saumendra Priyadarshi, BMC Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange, BDA Vice Chairman Balwant Singh, DRM, Khurda Road Division Rinkesh Roy, Chief Engineer of ECoR along with other senior officers were also present.