Odisha has completed restoration on 10 of 12 severely damaged road links on National Highway routes following Cyclone Arnab and the floods that followed, the state Works Department said after a review meeting chaired by Law, Works and Excise Minister Prithviraj Harichandan.
The meeting was held at Lok Seva Bhawan to assess damage to road infrastructure and the progress of repair work across affected parts of the state. Officials said the two remaining damaged links are scheduled to be restored within the next 48 hours.
The affected road network includes sections of NH-59, NH-157 and NH-326. Damage and repair progress were reviewed across the NH Division and the Kandhamal, Paralakhemundi, Ganjam, Gajapati, Phulbani, Bhanjanagar, Koraput, Malkangiri and Jeypore divisions.
Harichandan directed officials to focus not only on restoring connectivity but also on strengthening infrastructure against future climate-related disruptions. Discussions covered the construction of protection walls in landslide-prone areas, improvements to drainage systems and measures intended to improve the long-term safety of roads exposed to flash floods and landslides.
Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh thanked engineers, departmental officials and ground teams for carrying out repairs and restoring communication and transport networks across the affected regions. The department said its response was aligned with the state government’s objective of providing swift and uninterrupted public services after a disaster.
The review also addressed the need to record restoration work systematically. Officials decided that post-cyclone repair activities would be documented through video recordings and compiled into a reference booklet for future disaster-management planning and response.
The meeting was attended by Works Department Special Secretary and Engineer-in-Chief Samir Hota, Engineer-in-Chief (Civil) Satyabrata Behera, OSD L.K. Padhi, Chief Engineer (NH-1) Narayan Patel, Chief Engineer (Bridges-1) Prabhas Kumar Majhi, Chief Engineer (Bridges-2) Tapan Kumar Behera and Chief Engineer (Buildings-2) Trinath Behera. Chief Engineer (Roads-2) Sibabrata Taria and several zonal superintending engineers joined the proceedings virtually. The department’s stated next milestone is completion of the remaining two road links within 48 hours.
