Berhampur, Dec. 4: Every time, students of Khallikote Junior College need to attend lab class, they have to cross the busy National Highway No. 59.

There is a foot overbridge that connects Khallikote Junior College with Khallikote Autonomous College, where the laboratories are situated. But, authorities have debarred students from using it.

Consequently, one has to cross the highway that runs between the two institutes, and in the process, both students and teachers face problem as traffic on this stretch is quite high throughout the day.

During peak hours, commuters are often stuck in traffic jam on the highway that connects Gopalpur with Raipur.

Khallikote Autonomous College principal Radhanath Rath said: "We have restricted movement of students on the foot overbridge as some outsiders are often spotted here indulging in nefarious activities. They smuggle in iron rods, cricket bats and other weapons through the bridge on the campus and resort to clash with the college students."

"This was evident a fortnight ago when two groups of students clashed with each other on the campus, and the instruments they used had been smuggled in through the overbridge. We close the bridge whenever we anticipate such kind of disturbance. However, the facility remains open during the examination period," said Rath.

With the overbridge remaining closed, the junior college students now have to hit the highway - which is riskier than taking the extra effort of climbing the stairs to cross the road.

After persistent demand of junior college students, the 49.33-metre long overbridge was built at a cost of Rs 1.24 crore. The bridge is 2.43-metre wide and stand at a height of 6 metres from the highway. Both sides of the bridge are fixed with iron net for the safety of students.

The Khallikote Autonomous College's main block is on one side of the highway, while its stadium, indoor sports complex and the junior college building are on the other side.

Lipsa Das, a second-year arts student, said that last year, she used to avail herself of the bridge. "But now, I find it closed almost all the time," she said.

Khallikote Junior College principal Bibekananda Panda said: "We depend on 10 classrooms and all the laboratories that are situated at the Khallikote Autonomous College. We have a centenary hall, library, principal room, office room and three newly constructed classrooms in the junior college building. We also have nine sections each for both first-year and second-year courses with 2,200 students and about 30 lecturers. Our classes start at 7.15am and ends at 11am."

Manmath Padhi, officer on special duty of the Khallikote Cluster University, said the step had been taken to check infiltration of outsiders.

However, Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Bikram Panda, who is an alumnus of Khallikote College, expressed his displeasure over the non-utilisation of the overbridge.

"Construction of the bridge had been the students' demand since 1970," he said.