By Our Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, January 19, 2015

The Indian Roads Congress (IRC) has prepared a master plan for Odisha’s capital to address problems arising out of massive construction of buildings, drain blockage, traffic jam and frequent road accidents.

Director General of IRC, SN Das, said here Monday, “In the coming days, construction work of a ring road, more bypass roads and flyovers would be taken up with in Bhubaneswar with state-of-the-art technology.”

While Interacting with the media persons on the on the sidelines of the 75th Session of (Platinum Jubilee) of IRC, Das said the the master plans for Bhubaneswar zone will be formed for separation of industrial units, educational institutions, markets, slums and residential places in the city.

Stating that recession of groundwater level in the capital city had become a matter of grave concern, he said the passage of surface water to the ground level had been blocked due to massive use of black top bitumen for construction of roads and concrete for construction of buildings and high rises in the capital city.

Das said,“Apart from this, as the basement of the drains is made of concrete, there is no passage of water to the ground level as they are released in the rivers. Keeping this in mind, we have made specific plans to overcome these problems.”

Replying to a question on the volume of expansion of National Highways and roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Odisha, Das said this would be decided by the Centre and the state government.

Talking about the 75th annual session of the IRC being held in Odisha, he said it will benefit about 6000 engineers of the state who will have a thorough exposure to the application of modern technology.