Tragic Accident Sparks Urgent Call for NH-16 Redesign at Palasuni | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Thursday incident, wherein a 55-year-old man lost his life after being run over by a speeding truck on NH-16 at Palasuni, has rekindled the need to redesign this portion of the highway, which is becoming problematic for commuters and pedestrians alike.
The highway has narrowed at this portion, while the Palasuni canal bridge, which remained in bad shape for quite a long time, is adding to the woes of commuters. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) tried to take up the repair work of the bridge, but it couldn’t be done so far.
The foot-over-bridge (FOB) proposed on the site also remains out of sight, forcing pedestrians to risk their lives every day while crossing the busy highway. The man who died on Thursday was also trying to cross the highway when he was knocked down by the truck.
“More than 60 to 70 valuable lives have been lost in the past years in the Palasuni part of the NH. All of them fell victim to fatal accidents,” said Anjana Mohanty, a resident of Palasuni.
Palasuni is a densely populated residential area of the city. The other important localities near Palasuni are Mancheswar, Rasulgarh, and Satya Vihar. Due to the highway, a number of commercial centres have also found their base by its side.
“Vehicles coming from the Cuttack side or even from the opposite side often speed up from Palasuni as it lies at the culmination point of all the important flyovers on the NH. This makes this site highly dangerous,” said Mausumi Bala, a resident of Rasulgarh.
The demand for the FOB, in the meantime, remained constant from the residents of Palasuni. Some headway was made for the project in June this year with a tender for the FOB finalised, but the construction is yet to commence at the proposed site.
K Nageswara Rao, project director, NHAI Bhubaneswar circle, said they have already planned a third bridge over the canal near Palasuni to widen the highway, but for this, they need to stop the flow of daily traffic on the NH for sometime.
“We will need the cooperation of the local authorities as well as the people to commence the widening work. The existing bridge will also be repaired parallelly. The FOB work will begin very soon at the proposed site,” Rao said.
Syed Maqbool Ali, former member of the National Road Safety Council, also advocated for the widening of the highway near Palasuni and the construction of the FOB at the earliest. “The widening needs to be meticulously done. In the future, the city will be choked for the NH otherwise,” he said.
The highway has narrowed at this portion, while the Palasuni canal bridge, which remained in bad shape for quite a long time, is adding to the woes of commuters. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) tried to take up the repair work of the bridge, but it couldn’t be done so far.
The foot-over-bridge (FOB) proposed on the site also remains out of sight, forcing pedestrians to risk their lives every day while crossing the busy highway. The man who died on Thursday was also trying to cross the highway when he was knocked down by the truck.
“More than 60 to 70 valuable lives have been lost in the past years in the Palasuni part of the NH. All of them fell victim to fatal accidents,” said Anjana Mohanty, a resident of Palasuni.
Palasuni is a densely populated residential area of the city. The other important localities near Palasuni are Mancheswar, Rasulgarh, and Satya Vihar. Due to the highway, a number of commercial centres have also found their base by its side.
“Vehicles coming from the Cuttack side or even from the opposite side often speed up from Palasuni as it lies at the culmination point of all the important flyovers on the NH. This makes this site highly dangerous,” said Mausumi Bala, a resident of Rasulgarh.
The demand for the FOB, in the meantime, remained constant from the residents of Palasuni. Some headway was made for the project in June this year with a tender for the FOB finalised, but the construction is yet to commence at the proposed site.
K Nageswara Rao, project director, NHAI Bhubaneswar circle, said they have already planned a third bridge over the canal near Palasuni to widen the highway, but for this, they need to stop the flow of daily traffic on the NH for sometime.
“We will need the cooperation of the local authorities as well as the people to commence the widening work. The existing bridge will also be repaired parallelly. The FOB work will begin very soon at the proposed site,” Rao said.
Syed Maqbool Ali, former member of the National Road Safety Council, also advocated for the widening of the highway near Palasuni and the construction of the FOB at the earliest. “The widening needs to be meticulously done. In the future, the city will be choked for the NH otherwise,” he said.
