Agartala, June 2: The ONGC’s 726-MW mega thermal power plant in Palatana area under Udaipur subdivision of South Tripura seems to have become jinxed with the collapse of two makeshift bridges under the impact of heavy rain.

One bridge was across the Hawra river in Agartala town and the other across the state’s biggest river Gomati near Udaipur subdivisional town.

This has created a major bottleneck in transporting the 280-tonne turbine from Bagma area in Udaipur subdivision to the project site at Palatana, 22km away.

Expressing disappointment, the managing director of ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC), D.K. Dubey, said as a result of the collapse of bridges, the completion of the project would be delayed.

The initially estimated project cost of nearly Rs 8,0000 crore has already gone up to Rs 9,000 crore. For the delay, the cost will rise further.

“We had built kuchha bridges across the two rivers so that they could be dismantled easily after the transportation of turbines so that water supply from the rivers could be resumed but the monsoon this year has arrived earlier than usual,” Dubey said.

He said works on reconstruction of the bridges could not be taken up afresh because of incessant rain and heavy water flow from both the rivers following heavy rain in their catchment areas.

“Our main concern now is to safely keep the turbine bound for Palatana at Bagma though this will again entail considerable expenses. Transporting the second turbine from Calcutta via Bangladesh to Palatana will prove to be another nightmare because rain is heavier in Bangladesh,” Dubey said.

He indicated that unless the intensity of monsoon reduced, it would be difficult to transport the second turbine.

The first turbine rolled down into a roadside ditch at Lumtungcherra under Sonamura subdivision on April 19 while being transported to Palatana at night by a 124-wheel truck. It took nearly a month to lift the turbine and fitted to the truck. The huge vehicle moved to the Bagma area yesterday morning but the collapse of the bridge across the Gomati has created massive problems.

Tripura power minister Manik Dey expressed deep disappointment over the twin bridge collapse.