Keonjhar: Movement of elephants on National Highway 49 in Keonjhar district has been seriously affected due to delay in construction of an underpass at a proposed flyover bridge at Jagmohanpur on the highway.
This has sparked resentment among the locals and animal lovers. In a coordination meeting held on elephant protection, the Forest department had proposed for construction of an over bridge on the highway instead of passenger underpass (PUP) at Jagmohanpur as the route is regularly taken by the elephants to travel to their destinations all year round.
National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials had agreed to construct the over bridge measuring one km in length and earmark a portion of the bridge measuring 532 metre in length for an underpass to facilitate smooth movement of the animals.
Meanwhile, two years have passed since the construction of the national highway but the NHAI authorities are yet to take any steps for construction of the overbridge. A tender inviting interested bidders for construction of the bridge is yet to be floated.
The delay in construction of the bridge has also seriously affected the movement of people on the highway. They have to inhale the unclean air owing to dust pollution on the highway.
The issue is being regularly discussed in the coordination meetings held between the two government departments in regular intervals but no step has been taken yet in this regard.
Locals alleged that the pachyderms are no less affected. The animals are facing a lot of problems while crossing the highway from one jungle to another. Delay in the over-bridge construction has resulted in regular road mishaps on the highway leading to loss of lives and properties. Locals have warned of agitation if the NHAI authorities do not start the over-bridge and underpass works soon.
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