Bhubaneswar: In a big step to improve disaster preparedness, the Odisha Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi has approved a Rs 1,000 crore plan to build 500 km of disaster-resilient roads.
These roads will be laid under a new scheme ‘Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana-Disaster Resilient Roads’ and will be durable enough to withstand damage due to disasters with minimum maintenance.
The objective: To build robust road infrastructure that ensures connectivity during and after disasters, facilitating uninterrupted access to emergency services in affected areas.
The scheme will be implemented over a period of five years from 2025-26 financial year to 2029-30 fiscal.
It includes elevating road embankments above flood levels, constructing protection walls, stone pitching to prevent erosion, ensuring sufficient cross-drainage structures for proper flood water drainage, replacing submersible bridges with high-level ones, and adding catch water drains and breast walls on hilly roads.
In a separate plan, the state will spend Rs 426 crore to improve rural roads in 142 assembly constituencies over the next three years.
In total eight key proposals of five departments, including 50 per cent rebate for women, transgenders, students, divyangs and senior citizens travelling in both AC and non-AC buses plying under ‘Mukhyamantri Bus Seba’, were approved.
