Tuesday 24 June 2014

Ring Road, Railway Bridges, Bus Depot to Come Up at Berhampur city

Work for 46-km ring road, three Railway over bridges, a bus depot and a terminal in Berhampur city of Odisha would start soon.
"We have asked the engineers concerned to expedite the projects," Ganjam district Collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary, who took stock of the projects at a high-level meeting at Chhatrapur over the week-end, said today.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid foundation stone of the projects before the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.
The collector has also reviewed some other projects like bus stands in Gopalpur and Chhatrapur. These projects would boost development of proposed Greater Berhampur (Berhampur, Chhatrapur and Gopalpur).

While a 13-km long Raghunathpur-Ratanapur bypass road would be constructed by National Highways Authority of India, a 15-km road stretch of Dakhinapur-Lathi-Haladiapadar and a 17-km stretch connecting Mandiapalli-Karapalli and Phulta would be taken up by public works department (PWD).
The department has estimated that Rs 330 crore would be spent for the construction of the roads, said executive engineer, PWD, and nodal officer of the project, P K Das.
Similarly, three ROBs would be constructed at Goods-shed Road, Ankuli and Gopalpur Road. The railways and state government will equally share the cost of the projects.
"While tenders for Gopalpur Road and Good-shed Road would be floated soon, Ankuli project would be put out to re-tender," official sources said.
Tender for Ankuli had evoked no response earlier. The government has sanctioned Rs 75.83 crore for the railway over bridges at Gopalpur Road while Rs 43.29 crore and Rs 44.66 crore has been allotted for Ankuli and Goods-shed Road projects, official sources said.
At present, there are two railway over bridges at Kamapalli-Lanjipalli Road and Haladiapadar. "Construction of the new over bridges is a long-standing demand of locals. We hope the traffic congestion in the city will be eased after the over bridges are completed," said Berhampur MLA, R C Chyaupatnaik.
A bus terminal and a depot would be constructed at Haladiapadara, on the outskirts of the city. The lands for the projects have already been identified. Bus stands in Gopalpur and Chhatrapur would also be constructed. All three bus stands and the bus depot will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 26.32 crore, official sources said.


Friday 13 June 2014

Soccer fever in Berhampur city

World Cup Soccer fever has also reached Berhampur with veteran football players making efforts to use this international sporting event to popularise the game among youngsters and the common mass.
Quite a number of veteran players, who had played in the State football team live in Berhampur and Ganjam district. “There was a time few decades back when several players of our region used to represent in the State team, but at present interest in the game is going down among youngsters,” said former secretary of Ganjam Bar Association Manoj Patnaik.
A few decades back, a national football tournament ‘Fiaz Memorial Trophy’ was played in the city every year. People used to buy tickets to witness matches of this tournament. But at present only a few football clubs exist in Berhampur. Football clubs consist of mostly middle aged veteran players with few youngsters as the new generation seems to be more interested in cricket.
Members of Baracks Football Club as well as the autorickshaw association decided to use the World Cup football occasion to attract youngsters.
Members of the two organisations with the support of sports lovers have come up with two large display boards which would be put up at the old bus stand square in the heart of the city. One of them has detailed information regarding the teams that are playing in this world cup as well as the date and time of their matches as per the IST. The other display board has pictures of top players of all teams playing in the World Cup.
According to Gopal Panda, a veteran football player, results of each match would be updated on display boards.
This group had also planned screening of live matches. But they have now made some changes in their plan as all matches would be played during late night or early morning hours. “We are now planning to have shows of recordings of important matches as well as the final match,” said Gouri Shankar Panda, another former State level soccer player.
“We, the veteran football players, have decided to meet at the old bus stand square every morning and evening near display boards to answer queries of youngsters as well as others regarding football and World Cup matches,” said Mr Gopal and Mr Gouri Shankar. They would analyse matches played the previous day with emphasis on making the youngsters understand the intricacies and rules of the game. “It seems enthusiasm has become infectious as my son has demanded a football for his birthday instead of a new bat,” said Srinivas Rajana, a sports enthusiast. Sourec: The Hindu