The civic body appears to have understood that implementation of a scheme and its proper maintenance should go hand in hand to make a project successful.

Though the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation keeps on taking up infrastructure projects at the drop of a hat, only few of them actually come to the people’s service — mainly because of poor maintenance.

However, the Men’s Hockey World Cup, which is to draw visitors from 16 nations from all corners of the world in the city in November, seems to have forced the authorities to stick to a strict vigil on the implemented projects and ensure their thorough maintenance.

Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle executing the smart city projects here, has collaborated with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority to take up major roads and street lights repair work in various parts of the city. The corporation, which had its monthly council meeting last week, reviewed the overall road conditions and came up with the list of the works. The authorities have decided to take up ward-wise development, for which separate tenders will be called on, sources said.

“The major 40km road network, which remains damaged because of the underground cabling work, will get repaired much ahead of the sports event. We will put a strict vigil on the roads and not allow anyone to dig any trench in it after October 15,” said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena. The roads had earlier been repaired several times, yet the problems crop up every now and then because of poor maintenance. But “after October 15”, the entire stretch will be under the civic agencies’ vigil in view of the international sports event.

The smart city officials have also decided to check and repair the street lights along the priority road network during the upcoming Puja.

Similarly, trimming trees “at regular interval” will be carried out to ensure better illumination and road visibility. “The tree branches obstructing the lights will be trimmed for better illumination. The work will be commissioned in the first week of October,” said the civic body’s deputy commissioner Srimanta Mishra.

Officials have also discussed on the improved mobility services. Sources said that under the Capital Region Urban Transport, the new buses will start arriving around the second week of October. The bus queue shelters, on the other hand, will also don a new shape around the same time.

According to the mayor, an array of facilities needs to be perfectly in place, “mainly for the world cup”. “The 200 new buses will start plying across the city before the hockey event. Improvement of the transport service is our top agenda, mainly for the world cup. Everything is set and will come into force shortly. We want to ensure better infrastructure and services for the people ahead of the spots event,” said Jena.

Besides, six major parks across the city will also be cleaned jointly by the civic body and the development authority. “The IG Park and the Biju Patnaik Park will get a beautiful look to draw the public during the hockey event,” said a smart city official.

Therefore, local residents and global tourists may hope to enjoy uninterrupted civic amenities in Bhubaneswar — at least during the tournament.