ROURKELA: Temporary repair works of the highly damaged NH-215 stretch has finally started. Craters are being filled with industrial slag to open the highway for vehicular traffic. The NH passes through the mineral-rich Koida block.The Sundargarh administration recently convened an emergency meeting and it was decided to fill the craters with slag.Around 7,500 truck-loads of slag would be used to cover nearly 40-km stretch from Rajamunda to Kalta. With around 10 km of badly damaged stretch of the expressway between Kalta and Koida remaining non-motorable, the public transport system had recently collapsed. To ward off public resentment, the administration prohibited movement of mineral-laden heavy vehicles only to invite flak from the local iron and steel industries.Koida BDO Parikshit Sethi said the repair work would be completed on time as the highway is a key link. The mining industries of the region have been asked to bear the cost of slag transportation as the officials of the NHAI are entrusted with monitoring the repair work. However, locals’ wait for complete repair is likely to go beyond two years as plans are on the anvil to four-lane 86 km of the total 96-km stretch between Rimuli and Rajamunda passing through Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts. The Sundargarh administration claimed that land acquisition process has been completed in areas under K Balang police limits and remaining areas under the Koida police limits would be completed soon. The NHAI authorities said it would take around two years to four-lane the stretch.
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