Andhra Pradesh: Bridge at Marrivalasa to be ready by 2023, officials tell district collector

VIZIANAGARAM: The construction of a bridge across the River Champavati at Marrivalasa village in Gajapathinagaram mandal, Vizianagaram district, would be completed by March 2023, Panchayat Raj officials said on Sunday.

The district administration swung into action after The New Indian Express had published reports explaining the plight of the locals to cross the river whenever it rains in the catchment areas of the river.
District Collector A Surya Kumari on Sunday directed the Panchayat Raj officials to complete constructing the bridge as soon as possible.

Following this, Panchayat Raj Superintending Engineer (SE) GSR Gupta issued a statement regarding the progress of the works and said, “The government had sanctioned `5 crore under Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) funds for the construction of a bridge at Marrivalasa village in Gajapathinagaram mandal across the River Champavati. The tenders were also finalised, but the works were not started due to various reasons.’’On the directions of the collector, the contract agency will resume works this year to construct a bridge and complete it by March 2023, Gupta said.

Meanwhile, sources said the works were not taken due to lack of financial clearance. Following the reports published in TNIE, the government reportedly approved the financial clearance, the officials said. On Saturday, TNIE published a report on how a 21-year-old Taddi Kalavathi, a hostel warden at a private residential school in Visakhapatnam, crossed the River Champavati with the help of her brothers to reach Gajapathinagaram to report to duty. The video of her two brothers - Taddi Sankar and Sunkari Harikrishna - carrying her on their shoulders and wading through neck-deep water went viral on social media platforms.

On Sunday too, a report titled, ‘3 decades on, plea for bridge goes unheard’ was published, throwing light on the woes of the villagers in sending their children to schools and colleges or even to appear for an exam when the river is in spate. Responding to these reports, district Collector Suryakumari directed the Panchayat Raj officials to complete the bridge at the earliest.