Bhubaneswar, Nov. 9: Commuters can heave a sign of relief as the pending work on a flyover over the railway level crossing at Pokhariput has finally started.

The work on the Bhimatangi-Sundarpada side of the flyover has begun after a delay of over two years. At present, 50 metres of this side of the bridge will be built. The portion on the Pokhariput-end, on the other hand, is nearing completion.

The authorities have primarily held slow land acquisition responsible for the delay.

Works department executive engineer (Division II) Prashant Patra said: "The work, which started on November 3, was the only area free from any problem. The rest of the land needed for the flyover is either not available for slow land acquisition process or to be reclaimed after a partial demolition of the Sundarpada daily market owned by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority. A police building is also coming in the way of the flyover."

People coming from Old Town, Palaspalli, Forest Park, Gandamunda, Bhaktamadhu Nagar, Jagmohan Nagar, Sikshya O Anusandhan University, Jagamara, Dharma Vihar and Khandagiri and nearby localities take this route. Without a flyover, crossing the railway tracks has become a time-consuming affair.

"The half-constructed flyover has been standing there for the past two years as the other end was stuck in a limbo. It becomes extremely difficult to cross the area during peak hours," said local resident Raju Rao.

"The flyover construction should be done on a priority basis as thousands of commuters take this route," said Ranju Patrai, another local resident, whose son studies at DAV Public School, Pokhariput.

On August 31, 2012, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the railway overbridge. The Rs 36.74-crore project was supposed to be jointly executed by the East Coast Railway and the state government.

While the railway was supposed to finish the construction of the bridge, the public works department had to set up other portions, including the approach roads and the two abutments, a structure that joins a bridge to the approach road.

While the overbridge is 401-metre long, the approach road from the Bhimatangi end will be 161 metres and that from the Pokhariput end is 88 metres. There will be 15 pillars. While the railway has constructed three, the works department will build 12 pillars.

Shankar Prasad Panigrahi, a site engineer of Panda Infrastructure Private Limited, the contractors carrying out the overbridge work, said: "Design and locations of the approach roads are yet to be chalked out in detail."

The partial demolition work of the market was deferred last Tuesday, as police force was not available. "We are planning to carry out the drive as shortly as possible when the forces are available," said the authority's liaisoning officer Subhranshu Mohanty.