Bhubaneswar: The road length in the State under different categories (National Highways, State Highways, major district roads, other district roads) is 31,317 Km, said Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Minister, Works.
Addressing a presser here today Minister Mallik said that in the last two decades, total road length maintained by Works Department has doubled from 16,041 Km to 31,317 Km and so also the Budget has increased from Rs 298 Cr. during 2000-01 to Rs 9500 Cr in 2023-24.
Works Department is concerned with the construction of roads, construction of bridges, construction of buildings, maintenance and repair of extensive road network in the State, maintenance and repair of buildings, and improvement and maintenance of National Highways in the State.
Works Department also undertakes the construction and maintenance of buildings of own and other Departments to provide the necessary infrastructure in the State.
Presently,1,28,70,885 sq metre of plinth area of buildings is under the books of Works Department.
Major infrastructure includes Medical Colleges, Hospitals, Adarsh Vidyalayas, Court Buildings, Sports Infrastructure etc.
Under State Sector- Road Development Programme (RDP), there is an allocation of Rs 4,600 Crore during 2023-24 as against Rs 1890 crore during 2022-23.
With this allocation, Department will take up improvement and up-gradation of 3000 Km of roads, 09 nos. of major bridges.
Some of the other important projects are 6-laning of Cuttack Ring Road, improvement of Taladanda Canal, 4-laning of Cuttack-Paradeep Road, 4-laning of Kapilaprasad -Jatni Road, new 4-lane connectivity to Parlakhemundi, bypass at Berhampur, Bolangir, Sambalpur and other places.
Further, new bridges over river Kathajodi at Trisulia, over River Baitarani at Chandabali and Anandapur, over river Brahmani at Aul and construction of 6-lane road along Daya west canal, will be taken up.
Under Biju Expressway-II, there is an allocation of Rs 100 Crore with an aim to develop 4-lane connectivity of 335 Km of length from Berhampur to Jeypore.
There will be land acquisition during 2023-24 for this project. Additional provision of funds depending on necessity will be augmented in Supplementary Budget.
Under the Scheme “Integrated Development of Heritage and Monuments and Tourist Destination”, there is an allocation of Rs 158 Crore. Under this scheme, important heritage sites at Konark, Maa Sarala, Maa Cuttack Chandi, Shree Neelamadhaba, Sikharchandi, and Alarnath Pitha will be developed.
Under the scheme ‘ABADHA’, there is an allocation of Rs 223.98 crore envisaging completion of a number of projects at the heritage city of Puri. The important projects are Shree Mandira Parikrama Project (SMPP), Shree Setu, Jagannath Ballav Pilgrim Centre, Revival of MUSA river and Heritage ponds, development of beachfront etc.
Under RIDF, there is a budget provision of Rs 698.50 crore for improvement of roads and construction of bridges in the rural areas of the State. By utilizing the budget provision, 08 nos. of bridges and 220 Km length of road will be completed.
For scientific management of road maintenance and condition survey of the existing bridges, the Department will rope in the service of Central Roads Research Institute (CRRI). A total of 1000 km of road length has been improved and construction of 28 Nos. of bridges, 2 Nos. of ROBs & 1 No. of flyover completed.
Some major road project corridors like 4-laning of 176 km of Biju Expressway from Nuapada to Ampani, bridge at Boudh over river Mahanadi, bridge over Mahanadi at Athamallick, fly over Bridge at Laxmi Talkies Square in Sambalpur City have been completed.
Block Head Quarter Connectivity with 2-lane roads in 304 nos. of Block Head Quarters has been completed.
Major Building projects are in progress, which includes World Class Health Infrastructure of SCB Medical College, Cuttack, 05 Nos. of Medical Colleges, 09 nos. of Teaching Hospitals, 10 Nos. of District Head Quarter Hospitals, 10 Nos. of Cancer Care Hospitals, 89 Nos. of Multi-purpose Hall (MPH).
A total of 21,815 km of road length has been improved with construction of 518 Nos. of Bridges, 21 Nos. of ROBs & 3 Nos. of flyovers.
Major Road Project Corridors like 4-laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela Road of 163 km, Cuttack-Paradip CC Road of 82 km, 2-lane road of 304.50 km under Odisha State Road Project (Bhawanipatna-Khariar, Anandapur-Bhadrak-Chandbali, Berhampur-Taptapani & Jagatpur-Chandbali), 2-lane road of Vijayawada-Ranchi Corridor of 1,200 km (Motu of Malkangiri to Tiring of Mayurbhanj) have been completed.
Vir Vikram Yadav, Principal Secretary, Works Department , said that some of the Major Bridge projects completed are Gurupriya Bridge in Malkangiri, at Nelson Mandela square over Mahanadi in Sambalpur district, T-Bridge at Gopinathpur over river Mahanadi in Cuttack district, Madhusudan Setu over Mahanadi in Cuttack district, Near Jatamundia over Mahanadi in Cuttack district, Subash Bose Setu over Kathajodi in Cuttack district, near Rengali over river Ib in Jharsuguda district, Baji Rout Setu over Brahmani in Dhenkanal district, near Jenapur over Brahmani in Jajpur district, near Sankharisahi over Bilua Khai in Jagatsinghpur district, near Gumuda over Bansadhara in Rayagada district.
Senior Officials from Works Department were present during the presser.
