Even as the war of words over a second bridge over river Brahamani near Rourkela continues between the BJD and the BJP, a team of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials on Tuesday met Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here in a bid to solve the issue and expedite the project.
The team led by NHAI Member AK Singh was reported to have said construction work of the proposed bridge has been stopped due to forest clearance for the project not being granted to the NHAI.
Once the clearance is received, work would start immediately. But without such a clearance, work cannot commence, the NHAI officers reiterated. The team also discussed about other pending projects of the NHAI in the State and the issues affecting them for implementing the projects, sources said.
Notably, the Union Government has been claiming that due to the non-grant of forest clearance by the Odisha Government and non-resolution of the land acquisition issues, the Brahmani bridge project is being held up.
But the State Government claims that according to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, clearance for such a project is not required as the project is not located in a forest area.