Balasore: The overbridge near Fakirmohan Golei here, tagged the first overbridge in the state, is in a bad shape despite Rs 1 crore having been spent on its maintenance over the years, a report said.
A startling fact came to the fore through an RTI query that officials of the department concerned had bungled its work and misappropriated Rs 41 lakh in the name of maintenance.
The then Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik had inaugurated the overbridge April 13, 1984.
Manoj Nayak, secretary of Civil Society, got this fact through an RTI query.
“For maintenance of the bridge, the officials had misappropriated Rs 41 lakh in 1980-84. Significantly, official records showed that maintenance work at a cost of Rs 41 lakh was carried out when the bridge was under construction,” Nayak said.
He also pointed out that in the later period from 1985 till 2017, the department concerned had spent Rs 59 lakh towards maintenance too. It is sad that despite huge spending the bridge is still not safe for vehicles and commuters.
A mishap had taken place November 21, 2014. A bus fell off the bridge, crushing down a lawyer Harishchandra Mohanty. His son Pritiranjan has been paralyzed since then.
It is learnt that mishaps continue to happen every day as sand-laden trucks and oil tankers ply over it. Iron rods at the joint portion of the bridge have rusted. When heavy vehicles pass on the overbridge, the latter vibrates. Its pavements are now replete with craters and have been damaged at places.
Over three 300 shops operate under the bridge. Some locals observed that shops are weakening the bridge pillars. Shutters have been fixed by drilling the pillars. As rain water gets stagnant in some portions of the bridge, slabs and pillars have also been damaged.
As no contractors are able to repair the reverse portion of the bridge, the department has contacted a Hyderabad-based construction firm to make the estimate of the maintenance.
A tender will be floated for maintenance of the bridge soon. PNN
