Bhubaneswar: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday wrote to Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister for road transport and highways, requesting the construction of a bypass road outside Rairakhol town. Pradhan highlighted that National Highway-55, which passes through the town, is extremely congested, with hundreds of heavy vehicles moving daily through its narrow streets. “The bypass road would come as a great relief for the town’s residents as well as highway users,” he said in the letter.Pradhan’s letter to Gadkari was based on a representation the former received from the residents of Rairakhol, Sambalpur, which was supported by the district’s bar association, truck owners’ association, senior citizens’ forum and local journalists. “As you are aware, the NH-55 is one of the busiest national highways in the region and Rairakhol town is growing rapidly with all-round infrastructural development,” Pradhan, who is the Sambalpur MP, stated, highlighting the upcoming govt hospital, offices and colleges in the town.He added that due to these existing and upcoming establishments, there was considerable movement of people during office hours that clashed with the plying of heavy vehicles on the narrow roads of the town. “Plying of heavy vehicles through the narrow town roads, which are not designed to handle highway-level traffic, resulted in frequent severe congestion, thus increasing the risk of road accidents and avoidable inconvenience to people,” the minister stated.Considering the current situation in the town, he added, “I request your personal intervention to look into the matter and issue instructions to the authorities for the construction of a bypass road around Rairakhol town in the larger public interest.”NH-55 in Odisha, which is otherwise known as the Cuttack-Sambalpur highway, is one of the busiest highways in the state. The highway is currently being widened to ensure a greater level of convenience for highway users. Work on most parts of the highway neared completion, while the stretch that passes through Rairakhol town remained incomplete. The construction of the bypass road, locals said, would come as a great relief for them.“Rairakhol is the confluence point for many nearby areas, including Boudh and Sonepur to one side, and Sambalpur and Balangir to the other. This makes it one of the busiest areas in terms of vehicle movement,” local resident Trinath Acharya said, while welcoming the initiative of a bypass road in the town.
