Padmapur: A long wait for a bridge at Charibatia ghat of river Mantei in Chandbali block of Bhadrak district has come to an end after the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has given an NOC for the project.
The project was requiring clearance from the IWAI. The IWAI’s NOC (115/2-18-145-2020) will pave the way for the bridge, locals said.
Orissa POST had carried a report about lack of a bridge at Charibatia ghat July 1, highlighting the plight of commuters on boat rides. Overcrowded boats ferry people with support of a hanging rope at the ghat while mishaps often occur during boat rides.
People in riparian pockets in Basudevpur, Tihidi and Chandbali blocks have long been suffering from commuting woes in the absence of a bridge.
With boats, the ghat provides a major shortcut route for people to different places of the three blocks. A rope has been hanging across the river and the boatmen oar the boats by clutching the rope.
The boat rides are always fraught with risk while mishaps have occurred in the past as safety measures have been thrown to the winds. Last year, a boat had capsized along with a man and his motorcycle. He was rescued later.
Residents of Balimunda, Bideipur, Kismatkrushnapur, Laxmidaspur, Balimeda, Jagannathprasad, Padmapur, Sugo, Edatal, Lunga under Basudevpur block, Sahada, Sabaranga and Goramati under Bhadrak block and several villages under Tihidi and Chandbali blocks have no option other than travelling in country boats daily from this ghat.
Locals said this is the place where Mahatma Gandhi had crossed the river and spent night at Charbatia during the freedom struggle against the British rule.
The state government has declared this place as Gandhi Smaraki Peetha. The East India Company used this river and ghat for cargo transportation, particularly from Charbatia ghat to Jamkunda in Balasore. A sluice gate built by the British government stands testimony to the maritime history of the region.
The sluice gate is still intact. Locals lamented that such a long used maritime route has been neglected with people having to suffer a lot while commuting.
PNN
