Smart road project abandoned midway at Rourkela Smart City

The Rourkela Smart City (RSCL) road project has been stopped midway after the contract firm went bankrupt. The Smart Road phase 1 project had started in September 2019 with a whopping cost of Rs 20.68 crore (excluding GST) for a stretch of 3.6 km from Gandhi square at Panposh to Ambedkar square at Uditnagar. The project was awarded to Brahmani Engicon (BEPL) and the scope of work included the redevelopment of the road along with junction designing at Panposh and Uditnagar, paved footpath with tactile, underground cabling, signage installation, roadside beautification and landscaping among other things.  The contract firm had slowed down the project work around eight months back due to financial mess and from December, the work completely stopped. As per reports, the RSCL has made payment to the default contract firm citing completion of around 80 per cent work.  Currently, the city’s main gateway at Panposh presents an ugly picture as the road under the project is in a deplorable condition heaping miseries on commuters.The road stretch from Agrasen Bhawan to Uditnagar is replete with potholes while the black-topping is peeling off. Roadside beautification has been done partially at some patches. Similarly, paved footpath work is also incomplete. Provision for underground cable ducting has been completed but cables are yet to be fitted. As per reports, after final measurement, the remaining work would be completed with separate arrangement and efforts have been initiated to blacklist BEPL.