Puri: The Covid-19 pandemic has put brakes on many infrastructure projects with the ambitious Shree Setu project in the Pilgrim city by the state government being one among these developmental initiatives.
The Puri district administration could not carry out the land acquisition and other preliminary work for Shree Setu, the first ever trumpet bridge project in the state, for a couple of months due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
Though the administration had resumed land acquisition for the bridge, uncertainty still looms over the commencement of construction work owing to the restrictions, sources said.
The state government had announced several mega projects including the Shree Setu to transform Puri into a heritage city. It had planned to spend around Rs 190 crore on the trumpet bridge project.
The trumpet bridge will connect Mangalaghat bypass of Bhubaneswar-Puri National Highway with a proposed pilgrim centre at Jagannath Ballav mutt in the Holy City. The proposed project was supposed boost physical connectivity to the Holy City.
The district administration had decided to acquire 37.984 acre land from four revenue villages in the city here for the 2.3 km-long bridge project. According to sources, the administration had planned to acquire 34.246 acre private land from Samang, Matitota, Markandeswar Sahi (No.1) and Dandimala Sahi for the project.
Similarly, the administration would acquire another 3.738 acre government and Srimandir land for the mega project.
The administration had started acquiring land for the project after completion of a social impact assessment (SIA) survey in the four revenue villages. However, the land acquisition was suspended due to Covid-19 outbreak.
“The land acquisition process for Shree Setu project had resumed. But, there is no further information regarding the commencement of construction work for the project,” said a source in the district administration.
Puri district land acquisition officer Prashant Jena said the next process for Shree Setu project would begin soon after the completion of the land acquisition work. “All the developmental projects in Puri have been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
