Post News Network
Nabarangpur, Dec 8: A slow but steady weakening of the base of an approach road leading to a bridge over river Chikili on NH-26 is posing a threat to the lives of motorists passing along the route.
The bridge is the sole link between Nabarangpur and western Orissa; locals say connectivity would be severely disrupted if the bridge caves in as stones are gradually falling off the guard wall.
The bridge, located on the Nabarangpur-Papadahandi road, connects western Orissa districts such as Kalahandi, Bolangir, Bargarh and Sambalpur. People from Borigumma in Koraput district too use this route to go to Raipur in Chhattisgarh. However, the approach road to the bridge is getting weaker by the day due to relentless erosion. While stones of the guard wall are falling off one by one, parts of the bitumen road have developed gaping potholes, leaving the bridge in a precarious state.
Low pressure-induced rain that lashed the state earlier this year led to a spate in the river, with the Nabarangpur-side of the bridge suffering heavy damage. An alert notice is yet to be put up on the bridge, but motorists say they can feel the bridge shake when they drive across. Several iron rods too can be seen jutting out randomly on the bridge’s surface.
However, authorities are seemingly oblivious to the risk, say locals as only temporary repairs were carried out on the bridge after several complaints were lodged. These repairs too proved to be ineffective in the long run.
The concerned executive engineer was asked by officials including elected representatives to repair the bridge as well as the Nabarangpur-Maidalpur road at a recent meeting, sources said.
When contacted, executive engineer Harekrushna Panda said the bridge would be repaired again if a major overhaul is not possible ahead of the rainy season.