Bhubaneswar: The state government has set a February deadline to complete the Gurupriya bridge that would connect Malkangiri's Maoist-dominated villages across the Chitrakonda reservoir with the rest of the district.

Once ready, the bridge would facilitate movement of security forces into this belt of 30,000 people, who live in what is officially called the "cut-off" area so called because of its inaccessible terrain.

Most of these people depend on boats to communicate with the mainland.

The area has seen major Maoist strikes in the past. It had been separated from the mainland in 1964 when the reservoir was created for the Balimela hydel project. The bridge project had originally been conceived in the 1980s.Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi recently reviewed the project's progress and asked officials to complete it by February.

The earlier deadline for the project was June 2017. Rayagada additional superintendent of police Jagannath Rao said: "Early completion of the bridge is vital as it would help to check Maoist activities in an area with a difficult terrain."

The 910m bridge project is being executed by Calcutta-based Royal Infraconstru Limited under round-the-clock security from BSF jawans, who are camping a few hundred metres from the site to ward off possible Maoist attacks.

The fear of rebel violence has delayed the project, for which former chief minister J.B. Patnaik had first laid the foundation stone in 1982.

In 2000, the foundation stone was laid afresh by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who had stormed to power after dislodging the Congress.

In October 2014, the work was entrusted to the current contractor. However, sources said the pace of work needed to be accelerated to ensure its completion by the new deadline. "Work on 17 of the 22 spans of the bridge is over. With a little more effort, the project should be over in time. We all realise its importance for people of the area," said an official.