By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty
Cuttack: Denizens of twin city of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar will have to hold their patience for some more time as the much-awaited three-lane bridge over the Kathajodi river is scheduled to be commissioned in March next year.
Talking to odishatv.in, Pramod Nayak, Executive Engineer, Roads and Building Division, said the construction work is in full swing while almost 90 percent works have already been completed.
“All pillars of the 2.88-km-long bridge are ready and laying of the slabs is almost complete. We are now working on the railing of the bridge. We hope to commission the bridge by March next year as we need some more time to build approach roads on both sides of the bridge," Nayak added.
Asked about the project not meeting the deadline, Nayak said, “Ever since the Rs 106-crore project has started, we have aimed to complete it by December this year and commission it in March next year.”
Meanwhile, delay in the completion of the bridge has upset the residents of the twin city.
Expressing resentment over the delay, Susant Sahoo, a businessman said, “Thousands of people are are used to commute between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar daily. With the completion of the bridge, it will help them commute between the two cities in shortest possible time. Considering this, the authorities should expedite the work to ensure timely completion of the bridge.”
Notably, the 2.88-km bridge, connecting Belleview Point near Judicial Academy in Cuttack to Trisulia, is the first three-lane bridge in Odisha. Hyderabad-based construction firm HES Infrastructure Pvt Ltd has been awarded the construction work of the bridge the foundation stone of which was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in February 2011.
At present, it takes more than an hour hour to travel a distance of 30 km between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack via Trisulia and vice-versa. However, after completion of the bridge, the distance will be reduced to almost half.