Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20 -- The Orissa High Court has expressed strong displeasure over road construction works undertaken by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), raising serious concerns over alleged irregularities and possible corruption.

During the hearing of a case related to urban issues, the court came down heavily on CMC authorities after it emerged from an affidavit filed by the civic body that road works in various wards were deliberately split into smaller projects to bypass the tender process. The works were reportedly divided into projects worth Rs 2 lakh each and allotted without floating tenders.

As per the affidavit, a total of 765 such works, each valued at Rs 2 lakh, were executed between January 1 and September 30, 202...