Rayagada: State’s second hanging bridge, after the one at Cuttack’s Dhabaleswar shrine, is over the Nagavali river near Chekaguda in Rayagada district. It was built in 2011 at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore. The 151-meter-long bridge connecting the Chekaguda area of Rayagada town with Mariguda village is suspended at a height of over 33 metres above Nagavali through cantilever technology. It was opened for the public in 2012.
However, the bridge has been mishap prone for lack of proper protective, security and crowd management measures for the bridge. It was learnt that as many as 25 persons have lost their lives in mishaps near or over the bridge while taking selfies or due to lack of precaution in the last five years.
In August, a six-year-old boy from Andhra Pradesh who had visited the site along with his family was swept away by the river. Thereafter, the district administration has completely closed the way to the hanging bridge.
However, people and visitors have thrown restrictions to the winds and are often seen roaming on the bridge. The iron fencing has been uprooted while the iron pillars and fencing are gathering rust. The district administration had decided to close the bridge for the public in September for its renovation.
Later, the administration revoked its decision to close the bridge and imposed some curbs as it connects more than 30 villages in the district. In view of the recent collapse of the hanging bridge on the Machhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi which took as many as 135 lives, locals have flagged concerns over the overloading on the bridge which is crying for repair and renovation.
They have demanded strict enforcement of the restrictions in place to avoid any untoward situation in the days to come. It was alleged that repair of the bridge is not being taken up and surprisingly, there is no clarity as to who is looking after its maintenance. Rayagada Municipality authorities said that ITDA should look after the maintenance of the bridge as it has built the bridge. When ITDA authorities are asked about its maintenance, they shift the responsibility onto the municipality and the block authorities. Locals have alleged that despite restrictions, visitors still roam on the bridge. They have drawn the attention of the local tehsildar towards the breach of restrictions. The tehsildar said that walls will be raised on both sides along with deployment of police.
However, no such measure has been taken so far, it was alleged. Contacted, Rayagada Collector Swadhadev Singh said that a joint technical team has been assigned to assess the condition of the bridge and renovation work will be undertaken following the report.
