Cuttack (Odisha): The Orissa High Court on Thursday directed the Cuttack district administration to ensure that the giant welcome gates, erected by different puja committees of the city for the ensuing Durga Puja, do not encroach upon the roads and create traffic snarls.
A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justices S K Sahoo and V Narasingha, which is regularly hearing the problems of Cuttack city, on Thursday expressed concern over the dilapidated conditions of city roads. While street lights are not functioning in many parts of the city, most of the roads are now waterlogged and damaged due to continuous rains for the past fortnight.
Housing and Urban Department Secretary J J Yadav appraised the Bench of the completion of repair works by October 5. Durga Puja starts on October 9 with the Mahasashthee Puja. The puja revelry in Cuttack will continue till the immersion festival of the idols, scheduled for October 14 and 15.
Cuttack Collector V B Shinde assured the Bench that civil and electrical engineers of the Roads and Building department will thoroughly check the scaffoldings of each welcome gate and electric connections at each puja pandal to ensure that the celebrations are observed safely without any loss of life and damaged to property.
The collector also assured the Bench that he would personally look into each specific complaint of road encroachments by the puja committees. The Bench was also apprised of the ongoing strike by nursing workers across state hospitals despite the imposition of the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance (ESMA) Act.
State Health Secretary and Superintendent of SCB Medical College and Hospital assured the Bench that despite the strike, the hospital authorities have made elaborate alternative arrangements so that healthcare services are not affected.
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