CM lays foundation stone for bridge

The bridge, unique of its kind in the state, would have three lanes and its width would measure 14.5 meters.

Laying the foundation stone of the bridge to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 112 crore, Patnaik hoped that the bridge would be dedicated to people in next three years. The bridge with a length of 2.815 km would connect the city from Belle view here to Trishulia on the other side of the river.

The bridge would considerably reduce the distance between the twin cities, Patnaik said after the foundation stone laying ceremony. The bridge is coming up with Nabard financial assistance and Hyderabad-based HES Corporation has won the bid in a global tender.

The proposed bridge would be second one on the river to facilitate the connectivity of the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. While the earlier twin-bridge is part of the National Highway-5, the new one would shorten the distance from Cuttack-Bhubaneswar by nearly 10 kms.

Moreover, the proposed bridge would also reduce the traffic on National Highway to a great extent as people of the city on the western limits would prefer the new bridge to travel to Bhubaneswar?, said the Cuttack city legislator Debashis Samantray.

BJD as the party had promised the same during election campaign in 2009 April.

"The second bridge over Kathajodi was a long-standing demand of the people and it would go a long way in helping the expansion of the city on the Western side", he added.

Among others, Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, Tourism Minister Debi Prasad Mishra, city Mayor S K Ghosh and a host of MLAs from the district were present at the foundation stone laying ceremony.

The police took at least 20 Congress activists into custody as they opposed Patnaik`s visit to the city.

The city Congress has decided to protest Patnaik’s visit to his birthplace for alleged apathy and neglect of chief minister towards the city.