Govt to build 4 river bridges for Rs 900cr in 3 yrs

Bhubaneswar: State govt will construct four major bridges over the Mahanadi, Kharasrota, Baitarani and Brahmani rivers in three years, at an estimated cost of around Rs 900 crore, to ease communication and traffic congestion, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi told the media on Saturday.
According to the cabinet decision on Friday evening, the govt will construct a high-level bridge over the Mahanadi at Pujaripalli Ghat, connecting to Jarimuli.The proposed new bridge will link the NH-49 (Chhattisgarh-Jharsuguda-Deogarh-Talcher-Kamakhyanagar-Duburi-Chandikhole) on the Jharsuguda side to Dunguri on the Bargarh side. It will provide an important inter-district communication link for Bargarh and Jharsuguda. The cabinet has approved the lowest offer of L1 bidder GKC Projects, amounting to Rs 239 crore, for execution of the project within three years.
The second bridge will be constructed near the old bridge over the Baitarani on the Bhadrak-Chandabali road, at an estimated cost of Rs 206.83 crore, to connect Kendrapada and Chandabali. The proposed bridge will ease traffic on state highway 9A, which connects Kendrapada with Bhadrak, and will benefit tourists.
The govt will also construct a bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 221.53 crore near the old bridge over the Kharasrota at Bharigada on the Cuttack-Chandabali road to connect Aul and Chandabali. Similarly, a second bridge will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 228.99 crore over the Brahmani at Patrapur on the Cuttack-Chandabali road, parallel to the existing bridge.
All the three proposed bridges are expected ease traffic congestion on SH-9A that connects Kendrapada to Bhadrak. They will also provide direct connectivity to Dangamal and Bhitarkanika National Park, accommodating the growing traffic for the tourist destination.