Rojalin Mishra

Rourkela: Resentment is brewing among locals as construction work of second bridge over Brahmani river in the district has been stopped for last two months.

As per reports, there are lots of mismanagement in the construction work. Security guards employed by the construction company have not been paid for the past two months. Besides, any officials of the company have not visited the site yet.

"Work has been stopped since last two months. Though we have been doing our duty and looking after the site to stop theft of machinery and other construction materials, our salary has not been released since August," said Indraj, a security guard.

Commenting on the matter, Sub-contractor Manoj Kumar Amat said, "Payment of labours are outstanding since last five months even though our workforce have been engaged in the project."

In July 2017, Union Transport minister Nitin Gadkari had laid foundation stone for the proposed second bridge over Brahmani river. However, construction work had begun by the end of June this year.

In its reaction, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) stated that the work had been stopped due to some technical and land acquisition issues.

"The construction work had been stopped due to some fault in designing. Besides, workforce and machineries couldn't be mobilised to the site due to issues over land acquisition," said Project director Saurav Chaurashiya.

"We have informed the higher-ups about the issues and are hopeful to find a solution soon," Chaurashiya added.

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