Berhampur, Sept. 2: Students and teachers of Khallikote Junior College, which is situated beside the National Highway 59, are expected to get a foot overbridge connecting Khallikote Autonomous College on the other side of the road by October.

“Junior College and Autonomous College are situated at Khallikote College Square on both sides of the NH-59 and many students and lecturers of Junior College everyday have to cross the highway to attend classes and practicals at Autonomous College. Since the vehicular traffic is heavy on the highway, an overbridge has been a long-standing demand of the students and teachers,” said Bibekananda Panda, principal of Junior College.

“At Junior College, we have only a centenary hall, library, principal room, office room and three newly constructed classrooms. But, there are 2,200 students and 30 lecturers. So, we have to depend on Autonomous College situated on the other side of the road,” said Panda.

Bibhu Prasad Achary, junior engineer of the public works department, said it would be open to public in October before puja vacation. Achary is in charge of the bridge construction.

“The overbridge is being built for Rs 1.26 crore and the state government is funding a major chunk of the investment.

“The total length of the bridge would be 49.33 metres in two spans (width 2.43 metres and height 6 metres from the highway level). We would fix both sides of the bridge with BRC fabrics iron net and the roof with tin sheet for safety of the students,” said Achary.

Pragatika Singh, a Plus Two second-year student of science at Junior College is happy over the construction.

“The highway remains busy all the time and we invariably reach late for our practical classes. The overbridge would definitely help the students reach in time,” Pragatika said.