It has been more than two years since the two-lane Burla ring road was proposed to strengthen connectivity to Burla under the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) limits, but the proposal is yet to make much headway.

The Burla ring road has been proposed to connect Chaunrpur area under the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) with Ashok Niwas in  Burla.

However, construction work of the road from Chaunrpur to Mundoghat has been proposed to be constructed in the first phase. While the total length of the ring road will be around 14 km, the length from

Chaunrpur to Mundoghat, which has been proposed to be constructed in the first phase, is around 3.5 km. The Public Works Department (PWD) will execute the construction work.

As the Sambalpur University, the VSS Institute of Medical

Science and Research (VIMSAR) and the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) are located in Burla, the proposal of ring road for Burla, which is better known as education hub of western Odisha, was widely welcomed by the residents. The permanent campus of the IIM, second campus of the Gangadhar Meher University (GMU), the Sainik School and the CRPF Group Centre will be developed at Basantpur.

The proposed ring road will also provide better connectivity to Basantpur.

This apart, the proposed ring road will also be helpful in the expansion of the city to the other side of the river Mahanadi. However, the delay has now caused suspicion about the implementation of the project.

When contacted, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), PWD, Seikh Muftar, however, said the tender for the construction of the first phase work has already been finalised but the project is yet to begin due to land issue. Around 41.83 acres private land will be affected by the project.

"Initially, the Government had planned to purchase the land.

However, the people refused to part with the land at the price fixed by the Government, delaying the project. However, we have written to theGovernment to acquire the land. Rs 10.87 crore will be needed for land acquisition.

We will begin the work on the project once the land acquisition process completes," he added.