Malkangiri: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the much-awaited Gurupriya Bridge that will serve as a lifeline for thousands of people in at least 150 villages of cut-off regions in Chitrakonda block of Malkangiri district in June, a report said.
The project is at the last leg, informed works department minister Prafulla Mallick following a review meeting chaired by the CM.
The 910-meter-long Gurupriya Bridge is expected to resolve all the problems of communication for around 30,000 people in and around the Kalimela and Chitrakonda reservoirs.
Maoists have been opposing the construction of the project and on several occasions and they also torched the construction equipment.
Due to the threat from the left wing extremists, security has been tightened with round-the-clock surveillance through CCTV cameras to protect the bridge, official sources said.
Earlier, locals raised objection about the ‘substandard’ quality construction of the bridge after sinking of two more piles in recent past. But the works department kept mum on the issue. This sort of problems are expected as this is the first and only bridge to be come up inside a reservoir, the officials clarified at that time.
Later, the department modified the design of the pillars. It put up six piles instead of four under to support each pillar.
At present, the construction is being carried out under the direct supervision of designer NC Pal and executive engineer Arun Sahoo. Despite this, the misaligned piles have now raised questions about the longevity of the crucial link between the cut-off region and the rest of the world.
The bridge had been planned in 2006 to bail out people of seven panchayats of cut-off regions of Chitrakonda block in this district who have been leading life of deprivation after Balimela multi-purpose irrigation project was set up about 50 years back.
The project was launched to generate power and provide canal irrigation facility to 27 per cent region of the district. But the people of seven panchayats were left stranded in the process.
Taking the plight of the people seriously, the state government signed a contract with a private firm in 2006 to set up Gurupriya Bridge at the cost of 49 crore with an objective to establish road link with the marooned people. However, the dream remained unfulfilled after the firm suddenly withdrew from the project after a few months.
After the fate of the bridge hanged fire for several years, the government again swung into action in 2014 and roped in a Kolkta-based firm to complete the project by April 2017. The project cost was escalated to Rs 172 crore. However, the firm also failed to complete it within dead line.
