Portion of under construction Gurupriya bridge in Malkangiri caves in ; two labourers missing

Malkangiri:  In a major setback to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s ‘dream project’, a slab of the under construction Gurupriya bridge at Chitrakonda in Malkangiri here collapsed on Tuesday.

Two labourers are feared to be trapped under the collapsed structure, sources said. According to reports, three girders of the bridge between 10^th and 11 columns have caved in.

According to reports, nearly 50 labourers were working when the girder between two pillars of the bridge collapsed. Earlier, one pillar of the under construction bridge had also caved in last year. The fresh mishap at the construction site is likely to delay the project which was earlier targeted to be completed by September.

Kolkata-based Royal Infra Limited is carrying out the construction work for the 910-metre-long Gurupriya bridge at Chitrakonda.

The foundation stone for the bridge was laid in 1982 by the then chief minister JB Patnaik and again by CM Naveen Patnaik in 2000.

The bridge at Gurupriya would provide connectivity to the cut-off area housing 25,000 tribal people living in 151 villages once it is completed.