Rourkela: With the second Brahmani Bridge hanging fire due to alleged interference by political vested interests, the people of this industrial town are at the receiving end.
The first bridge on Brahmani River was constructed in the 1960s after the Rourkela Ispat Steel Plant was launched in 1955 in order to provide plant road connection. At that time the bridge’s life was estimated at 100 years.
With the industrial area growing, the bridge witnessed more than expected traffic of heavy vehicles, making it weaker. The bridge developed cracks and repairs failed, leading to long hours of traffic problems.
This is how the need for another bridge on the Brahmani arose in the 1990s. The National Highway Authority of India engaged many companies for surveys and reports were submitted in time too.
In 2012 when there was a Congress government at the Centre, a budget of `884 crore was sanctioned. Gamon India was awarded the construction contract and the company opened an office in Rourkela and started work on a war footing.
The work halted after the cropping up of some problems regarding land acquisition. The residents of Balughat and Panposh started opposing the project, forcing the construction company to withdraw from the project after the state government did not take any steps to solve problems. Meanwhile, the project cost rose to `1500 crore.
Since then the bridge has been a big issue for political parties as they are trying to get mileage out of it.
In 2014 when Narendra Modi, who came here during an election campaign programme, assured the people that they would have the second Brahmani bridge soon.
After a year on April 1, 2015 during his second visit to Rourkela to dedicate the modernisation of the Rourkela Ispat plant to the nation, he reiterated his previous promise and said very soon construction of the Brahmani bridge would begin. That too went in smoke as construction work has not taken off.
People’s hope of getting a second bridge got a new lease of life when Union minister for road and transport Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone of the much awaited bridge July 21 and like Modi, he also assured people construction would start soon and finish in five years. With construction work moving at snail’s pace, locals say the bridge may prove a strong issue for political parties during the 2019 election.
“Brahmani is the lifeline of Sundargarh district. The second bridge should be constructed on a war footing. It is because of the inefficiency of two Central ministers from Orissa the bridge is not completed today,” said Sachetana Nagarika Mancha general secretary PP Ray.
“The Naveen Patnaik government has already completed three bridges on Brahmani. This apart, the state government has constructed 600 bridges under Biju Setu Yojana. But as the construction of the second bridge is with the Centre, it hardly sees any progress”, alleged Sarada Nayak, former minister and BJD leader.
“Modi came twice here and assured people that work on the bridge would start soon. But that did not happen. Meanwhile, I recently wrote letters to Union road and transport minister Nitin Gadkari and requested the PM through him for immediate steps to mitigate public suffering,” said Dillip Ray, the MLA of Rourkela.
PNN
