Keonjhar public roads damaged by unauthorized pipeline and cable work: PWD files complaints

Keonjhar: Officials of public works department (PWD) have lodged two separate complaints with Town police station against a govt agency and a private firm for allegedly damaging public roads while laying water pipelines and optical fibre cables without permission.“They are digging and damaging public roads without obtaining permission. When they failed to secure approval and continued the work, we had no option but to file complaints,” said Sambit Kumar Mohanty, superintending engineer, Keonjhar PWD division.Sources said the roads connecting Atopur-Hudco Colony to Balabhadrapur, and Mandua-Saras-Mundasahi to Ranki, have suffered extensive damage due to unauthorised excavation.

Assistant engineer of PWD filed complaints against both the contractors involved and the rural water supply and sanitation agency, Keonjhar.The affected roads are vital to Keonjhar’s infrastructure, with crores spent on their construction and annual maintenance. Due to the digging, the roads have become nearly unusable, causing severe inconvenience to villagers. Drains have collapsed at several points, and access to centralised kitchen centres, central schools, Eklavya model residential schools, and nearby villages has been disrupted.

Thousands of students and residents use the roads daily.With hundreds of autorickshaws, four-wheelers, and motorcycles plying on the route, locals said commuting has become hazardous. They have demanded a high-level inquiry into how such work was permitted to proceed and called for strict action against the responsible contractors.Officer of Town police station, Srikant Sahu, said that the companies named in the complaint have been summoned.

“We will take appropriate steps after questioning them,” he said.Several roads in Keonjhar town have been damaged due to gas pipeline work by a private company. Sources alleged that both the PWD and Keonjhar Municipality failed to take stringent action or recover the actual loss incurred, resulting in a significant burden on the public exchequer.