Orissa , 5 Aug :The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu has approved nine road improvement and widening works in the state of Orissa at a cost of Rs.76.58 crore under the Central Road Fund (CRF) Scheme.
Approval has been granted for the following stretches on various Highways in the State:• An amount of Rs.1094.51 lakh has been approved for improvement of Sambalpur-Sonepur road (SH-15) from 48/0 km to 57/870 km. in Bolangir district.
• An amount of Rs.656.62 lakh has been approved for improvement to Nayagarh-Jagannathprasad-Bhojanagar road (SH-21) in Ganjam district.
• An amount of Rs.810.35 lakh has been approved for Improvement to Nayagarh-Odogaon-Laukhal road from 31/0 to 39/0 km. in Sundargarh district.
• An amount of Rs.1271.09 lakh has been approved for widening and improvement to Kalugaon-Bonai road (MDR-26) for a length of 11 Km. in Sundargarh district.
• An amount of Rs.3825.46 lakh has been approved for improvement of various stretches in Jagannathpur-Berhampur-Phulbani road and (SH-7) Chharichk to Phulbani in Ganjam and Phulbani districts in the Vijayawada–Ranchi Corridor. This road which passes the tribal belt of the district and also connects the Sub-divisional Headquarter Bhanjanagar, District Headquarter, Chatrapur, State Capital Bhubaneswar and other districts like Kandhamla, Kalahandi, Bouda, Bolangir etc. This road also serves as a major communication link between different villages and Gram Pnachayat of Bhanjanagar and Belaguntha Block. It also connects the historical and tourist places like Odagaon (Lord Raghunath), Sarankula (Lord Ladubaba), Buguda (Lrd Biranch Narayan), ancient monuments like Budha Khola and sanctuary of Black Buck. Due to heavy traffic and heavy rain in subsequent years, the road has been severely damaged with depressions at nos. of places, and potholes. Hence, in order to cater the increased vehicular traffic and to reduce the maintenance cost the development of the road has been proposed.