Municipal Corporation asked to speed up development work

Amid tardy progress of World Bank-aided Odisha Disaster Recovery Project (ODRP) in this southern Odisha city, Berhampur Municipal Corporation has been asked to speed up the works.
The instruction to accelerate the work was given when Housing and Urban Development Secretary G Mathivathanan reviewed the progress of the Rs 180-crore project on Saturday, official sources said.
The project includes Rs 85 crore for development of 85 slum pockets, repair and widening of major and interconnecting roads of 7.60 km (Rs 40 crore), construction of storm water drain (Rs 25 crore) and restoration of water supply (Rs 30 crore), they said.

The state government had signed an agreement with the World Bank (WB) for the ODRP on July 11, 2014, with a target to complete it on March 31, 2019. The government has already released Rs 80 crore to the corporation in last two years, the sources said.
While the restoration of water supply scheme has already commenced with laying of pipelines from Badamadhapur to Kaliabali, a consultancy has been appointed for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for road and drainage systems, said a senior officer of the corporation.
The private firm has already completed survey of over 50 per cent roads and was asked to submit the DPR by April 14. "We will start the tender process after approval of the DPR by government and WB," the officer said.

The roads identified to be upgraded are Ramaling Tank to Dharma Nagar, sub-registrar office to National Highway 59 via Dhanmera Street, Hanuman Bazaar to PVN Patrol Pump via City High School and Arnapurna Market, Mayuree Tower to Corporation Road and sub-registrar office to Prem Nagar.
The encroachments will be evicted to widen the roads. In case more land is required, the affected will be compensated under the rehabilitation and resettlement policy, 2006, said an engineer.
The ODRP is being implemented in the city to improve infrastructure, which was damaged due to cyclone Phailin in October, 2013.