RTI Requests

Odisha state is located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. The state shares borders with Andhra Pradesh in south, Chhattisgarh to it’s west and Jharkhand and West Bengal to it’s north. The District of Koraput in southern part of the state is most commonly known as Odisha’s paradise. With the tallest mountain peak of the Eastern Ghat, Deomali (1672 m), thick forest of Sal and teak, sparsely populated hilly terrain the district has managed to maintain its natural splendor at it’s most pristine state. Some of the indigenous tribes come from this area. Even though economically the condition of the native population is still abysmally backward in comparison to rest of the country the land’s mineral rich resources especially with the largest reserve of Bauxite deposit in Asia the district is rightfully claiming its position under the sun by inviting world attention and fund investments more than ever. Jeypore, Koraput, Sunabeda, Semiliguda, Damanjodi, Kotpad are among the known towns in this region. To get an idea how National Highway 26 snakes through the major cities of Koraput district, please take a look at the google map.

http://goo.gl/4Vd4W

National Highway 26 (NH26) is in dire state and needs immediate attention of Odisha state government. NH26 serves as the lifeline for the surrounding areas of Sunki, Pottangi, Semiliguda, Sunabeda, Koraput, Jeypore, Boriguma and Kotpad. Accordingly it connects some of the remotest parts of Koraput to the nearest urban cities like Vishakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Jagdalpur, Raipur that have the necessary rail and air transport facilities. The current state of NH26 is so bad it’s literally a death-trap and in addition people from these areas also make the very difficult trip to Vishakhapatnam in Andhra for emergency or critical treatment. This trip is so hard that some don’t even make it to the medical facilities in time. HAL, NALCO, BILT, Mangalam Timber, HINDALCO are among the industries in these areas who are solely depended on NH26 to transport equipments, raw materials, finished goods to the ports at Vishakhapatnam. With the inauguration of Central University of Odisha, the region also attracts students and parents from outside areas to travel to and fro from these regions. Thus the highway traffic with bad road conditions, pending constructions makes it a nightmare for general public as well as the industries to commute this stretch of the highway. Many are also discouraged to visit these places from tourism prospective. An improved NH26 can make a huge difference in the lives of the residents and the region as a whole.

We request for immediate improvement of the highway for the entire length and sustained maintenance to prevent any future deterioration.

Here are some recent news articles that highlight the miserable and dangerous state of the highway.

http://www.odishanewstoday.com/kbk-news/1199-pottangi-sunki-highway-a-death-trap.html

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-02/bhubaneswar/30467065_1_5th-generation-bad-roads-engines