Cuttack, June 17: The ongoing construction for a high-level bridge over the Mahanadi river has come under scrutiny after a portion of the span of the Jatamundia-Sonepur bridge caved in under the impact of flood waters today.

The roads and buildings division of the public works department (PWD) is executing the work for the construction of the bridge from Jatamundia to Sonepur.

The incident occurred after the executing agency of the project, a private company, failed to complete the work to install the span.

“We had earlier warned the agency concerned to complete the construction by June 15 keeping in view of the heavy rain in the upper Mahanadi basin,” said Banki roads and buildings sub-divisional officer P.K. Bhola.

A lot of people have expressed concern as they allege that the construction is of sub-standard quality.

“The senior officials of the PWD should intervene and ensure that no compromise is made in the construction of the bridge as it might prove fatal once it is made operational,” Sudhansu Rath, a local villager.

Roads and buildings officials said the agency concerned has been asked to bear the cost of reinstalling the span while an inquiry will be conducted to ascertain the reason behind the mishap.

Official sources said the work for the construction of the high level bridge over Mahanadi at Jatamundia near Banki had begun in January 2008. The cost of the project was then estimated to be around Rs 54 crore.

The work was to be completed by 2011 but got delayed, resulting in the increase in the project cost to Rs 62 crore.

The length of the Jatamundia-Sonepur road bridge is 2,077 metre and the construction is expected to be completed by December. Over 85 per cent of the work has been completed.

The bridge will benefit hundreds of villagers residing in the six gram panchayats of Banki sub-division.

The project would also benefit the people of Athgarh as they can go directly to Cuttack instead of travelling via Munduli.