Bhubaneswar: Bhimatangi resident Bibhuti Bhusan will now be able to take his nine-year-old daughter Trisha to school in three minutes flat.

Though the distance between Bibhuti's house and Pokhariput DAV Public School, on the other side of the railway line, is just 1 km, it took the father- daughter duo almost half an hour to negotiate the stretch.

But that distance can now be covered in mere three minutes. This has been made possible with chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurating the much-awaited Pokhariput overbridge here on Thursday.

"Every day I drop my child at school before going work. We often got late due to the long wait at the railway crossing. I was facing the trouble since I admitted my daughter to the school three years ago. I was waiting for this bridge to open and now we have it," said Bibhuti, a state government employee.

Several others like Bibhuti seem happy with the opening of the bridge that was hanging fire since the past five years for various reasons.

"We overcame all the hurdles and successfully completed the construction of the bridge. It will be a major help for daily commuters," said works department chief engineer (roads) O.P. Patel.

With the opening of the bridge, link between Pokhariput, Jagamara, Khandagiri, Gandamunda and Jagamohan Nagar on one side and Sundarpada, Kapileswar, Bhimtangi, Old Town, Samantarapur, Uttara, Nuagaon and Lingaraj Vihar on the other side has become easy.

"It was a much needed facility for our area. The construction of the bridge was going on since the past four years. During construction, we faced problems, as the authorities didn't provided good alternative roads. Waiting at the railway crossing was a pain," said Trishila Mohanty, a resident of Gandamunda.

The PWD and the East Coast Railway took up three bridge projects simultaneously at Pokhariput, VSS Nagar and Saheed Nagar in 2013-14. The Pokhariput overbridge has become the second such facility to be thrown open to the public. The one at VSS Nagar was inaugurated in 2016.

However, residents are still waiting for the Saheed Nagar overbridge to become operational. Two accidents took place at Saheede Nagar in the past few months. One person was killed in the accident in September.

"We are nearing completion of the Saheed Nagar bridge also. It will be thrown open most probably by October," said Patel.

Bomikhal resident Charlie Jena said efforts should be taken to complete the Saheed Nagar overbridge as soon as possible.

"This bridge has killed one and injured many ever since the work started back in 2013. The bridge is almost completed, but the officials need to expedite work properly to make it operational," said Charlie.

Tragedy struck shortly after Naveen left the site around 6pm. Sources said a man died after coming in contact with a livewire while trying to remove balloons that were used to decorate the venue.

Sources said the victim, while trying to remove the balloons, inadvertently touched a livewire used to light fairy lights. The victim, believed to be a resident of Berhampur, was identified as Sukanta Panda, 35. "The incident occurred at the Sundarpada side," said councillor Hrudaya Ballav Samantaray.