Rourkela: Politics over the construction of the second Brahmani bridge has taken centre stage here with the BJD staging a demonstration for four hours on Sunday near Panposh, the entry point to the city.
The BJD leaders denounced the failure of the Centre in keeping the promises made by the Prime Minister on the construction of the second bridge on two occasions. They also criticised the delay in converting the Ispat General Hospital into a super-specialty hospital.
Hundreds of BJD youth wing activists - led by Sundargarh and Rourkela unit youth presidents Debendra Majhi and Subash Swain, former minister and Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak - took part in the demonstration.
"We think Rourkela does not exist in the radar of the Centre despite the tall promises made by the Prime Minister and his minister Nitin Gadkari. The Centre is playing dirty tricks with the state and especially with Rourkela," said Majhi.
Swain said: "How can we believe the Centre with such tall failures despite PM himself making the promises?"
"If the Prime Minister's promise fails to materialise, what could be more humiliating for us? This is sheer cheating. All the government land have been acquired by the state government for this purpose and what is stopping them from constructing the bridge?" said Nayak.
The bridge on River Brahmani has always been very sensitive for the residents here. The present bridge was built in the 1960s' and was repaired from time to time. This bridge is part of the NH-143. During UPA rule, it was decided that the highway would be widened and a second bridge would be constructed.
A Mumbai-based infrastructure company had got the contact initially. However, it left soon as the state government failed to acquire the required land and then there were heavy political brick-batting between the BJD and the Congress. During the last general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that the bridge would be constructed and the Ispat General Hospital would be converted into a super-specialty hospital.
On June 21 this year, Union surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari promised the residents of the town that work on this bridge would begin within 15 days. However, local MLA Dilip Ray had then said: "It is next to impossible to start construction within 15 days."
