Bhubaneswar: Odisha Works Department Minister Prithviraj Harichandan today convened a high-level meeting during which he instructed the concerned officials to expedite construction work.
During the meeting, Prithviraj Harichandan has directed to formulate a revised ‘Schedule of Rates’ within the next 15 days. This system will bring uniformity in the determination of prices of construction materials, labour and equipment, and the project schedule and payment process will be easier.
The Minister has suggested to make Standard Bid Document (SBD) of all the related documents to end the discrepancies in the tender process. Along with this, he order to fix a specific time limit for all the work related to the tender, starting from the Chief Engineer to the Minister.
The Minister also laid special emphasis on the ‘Decongestion Plan’ to reduce traffic congestion in Bhubaneswar city. In this regard, he has directed that the ‘Left Parallel’ road work of Jayadev Vihar – Nandankanan should be completed by the end of this month by continuing day and night on a war footing. He asked the departmental officers to ensure the usability and good management of alternative roads so that the common people do not face any problems during the construction work.
Harichandan also discussed the establishment of a special research institute in Odisha in the style of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) for the application of new technology in the construction sector. It has been decided that the details related to the profile and implementation of this road research institute will be finalized in the coming days.
In addition, the Minister has asked the officials to achieve all the expenditure targets by March 31 and immediately pay the dues of various divisions approved in the supplementary budget.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Works Department, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Managing Director, Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC), Anupam Saha, EIC (Civil) Engineer Satyabrata Behera, Special Secretary Engineer Laxmikant Padhi, Financial Advisor Ratikant Mohapatra, Chief Civil Engineer, Bhubaneswar and other senior officials.
