Bridge nightmare for commuters travelling over Umuri stream at Badakaudi village in Odisha

JEYPORE: Commuting on the damaged bridge over Umuri stream at Badakaudi village has become a nightmare for locals. Even as the bridge is in a dilapidated condition with its guard walls damaged due to lack of maintenance, repair work has not been initiated yet. Six years back, the Rural Development department had constructed a five-km PMGSY road from Umuri to Dhanpur panchayat via Badakaudi village. As a part of the road project, a bridge was constructed over the Umuri stream. The guard walls on the two sides of the bridge have been damaged due to lack of repair.

The condition of the bridge has also worsened due to plying of heavy vehicles transporting construction materials for railway works in the area. Villagers of Badakaudi, Dhanpur, Garudaguda, Akamba, Umuri, Kaliagam, Sanokudi and Mangriaguda use the bridge to reach Jeypore town. On average, at least 5,000 people use the bridge daily, including at least 100 children who cross the unsafe bridge to reach Akemba High School from the peripheral villages. As many as 15 minor and major road accidents have been reported on the bridge in the past few days.

Even as the villagers have been urging the Block Development Officer of Jeypore and Rural Development department to repair the dilapidated bridge, the officials have turned a deaf ear. While the bridge was earlier maintained by the Rural Development department, the responsibility has now been shifted to the Roads and Buildings wing of Works department. Executive Engineer (Roads and Buildings) of Jeypore, B C Samantray, said repair work will be taken up after examining the damage.