In a major relief to historians and monument lovers, the superintendent engineer of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Saturday scotched the fear of the historical Atharanala bridge having any major crack.
“There is no major crack in Atharnala. Only its pointings have some problems. They will be repaired soon. There would be no threat to the bridge,” said ASI’s superintending engineer, Dibishada Brajasundar Garnayak.
"There are some families living near the bridge encroaching on its land. In the future, if anything bad happens to the bridge, they will solely be responsible for that," he added.
Also Read: Puri Atharanala's historical significance being destroyed: Puri residents
Notably, the said 13th-century laterite stone bridge over the Musa River is at the entrance to the pilgrim city of Puri. Its name is the combination of two words. They are Athara means 18 and Nala means passage. So, its name means 18 passages.
While informing about the ongoing Nata Mandap repair work, he said its cracked beam is being repaired and a target has been set to end the repair work before Dola Purnima.