BHUBANESWAR: Residents of Samantrapur on Saturday blocked the NH-203 stretch from Garage square to Samantrapur demanding immediate repair of the road. They alleged that the road is replete with potholes and the situation has worsened due to the ongoing expansion work of NH 203 from Rasulgarh to Puri. Due to the work, the damaged road stretch has narrowed down leading to frequent accidents. As it is the main road connecting Puri and Cuttack, thousands of vehicles pass along the route daily. In October, a girl was run over by a bus near Garage Square. Though the expansion work on NH-203 is going on for over a year, it shows no sign of completion, forcing untold miseries on the commuters. Debashish Sahoo, a local resident, said the ongoing road expansion work has made life miserable with accidents becoming a daily affair on the road stretch. The agitators were pacified after of National Highway division Executive Engineer Jaladhar Pradhan assured them to finish the road works by October-end. “The project was delayed due to technical reasons like tree felling, relocation of electric and telephone poles, underground cables and water pipelines. NHAI (Orissa) was working on a war-footing to finish the works,” Pradhan said. He said the rain is creating hurdle in the repair work of the potholes. “Water-logging is also a reason behind delay in the project. We are hopeful of completing the expansion works once the rainy season is over,” he said.
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