Rourkela, Aug. 23: The process to build a wire bridge on the Koel river has started at the appropriate level.

Initially, a check dam and a barrage had been planned on the river. However, the decision to build a wire bridge came after a new plan was drawn up.

Sources said the tendering process for the project would begin before or after the Durga Puja. The survey for the project was over last year.

"I had a discussion with chief minister Naveen Patnaik on the project, and he was serious about it. The project will get over shortly," said Raghunathpalli MLA Subrat Tarai. He also said the Chief Minister's Office was monitoring the projects that Naveen had inaugurated.

The check dam and a barrage on the Koel will come up near Koelnagar. Naveen had laid the foundation stone for the Rs 200-crore project on July 9, 2013. Later, a new plan was drawn up to construct a pick-up wire or low-barrier bridge.

A report on the proposed project was published in The Telegraph on September 23, 2015. The chief minister inaugurated the bridge on February 24 to connect the city with Sundargarh district's tribal hinterland. The bridge is important for the region's agrarian economy.

The region is known as the district's vegetable basket. For the farmers, however, coming to Rourkela was a very arduous task. They had to either cross the Koel on boat or take a long route to the city. The bridge is expected to ease their commute.

Executive engineer of the irrigation department Ajaya K. Biswal said: "The whole project is in the design cell."