The Odisha government on Tuesday announced the initiation of criminal proceedings against construction agencies that failed to carry out maintenance of completed urban infrastructure projects for three years.

State’s Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr Krishna Chandra Mohapatra, while attending a training programme of municipal corporations, urban local bodies and notified area councils, said the construction agencies engaged in urban infrastructure projects will be bound by regulation to carry out maintenance of executed projects for at least three years.

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The completed work will be maintained for at least three years by the executant agencies. If any of them violates and does not carry out maintenance, they will face the music, the minister said, warning that “criminal proceedings will be initiated against them as per the law”.

The minister further said that the proposed metro rail project in Bhubaneswar will be implemented as planned by the previous government.

Former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on 1 January 2024 had laid the foundation stone for the Rs 6,225 crore Bhubaneswar Metro Rail project, which was touted to emerge as the connectivity lifeline for the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack after its completion.

Asking the officials to do ‘teamwork’ to provide better quality services to people in urban areas, minister Mohapatra emphasised planting trees on a large scale in the municipality and keeping the streets clean as per the guidelines of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

He further sought effective implementation of scientific treatment of urban wastes for a cleaner and safer urban environment.

The minister advised the department officers to not sit in the office but to make field visits. The officials need to visit the wards for at least three to four hours a day.

Laying emphasis on urban traffic management, he said directions have been issued to formulate plans so that people can reach their destinations in a short time. At the same time, he suggested installing more and more CCTV cameras for law and order in urban areas.