Baripada: Amid rising mishaps, Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu has announced that the damaged portion of the accident-prone Bangiriposi ghat road will be repaired and expanded very soon in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to lay the foundation stone in February.

The Minister further informed that the tender for the expansion project has almost been completed with an outlay of Rs 250 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to lay the project's foundation stone in February after Makar Sankranti, he added.

Expansion of NH 49 along the ghat road has been a longstanding issue in the district as the stretch has been witnessing a spike in mishaps of late.

On Friday, driver of an oil tanker was charred to death while another was crushed under a truck after the two vehicles collided head on and fell from the ghat road into a 20-feet gorge. While the tanker caught fire, the other truck too was soon engulfed in the flames.