Bhubaneswar, April 3: A few months ago, people living near Ramadevi Women’s College, Master Canteen Square and Jaydev Vihar Square had many reasons to cheer.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had decided to construct three foot overbridges at locations close to these places, as they face major traffic congestion during peak hours, making crossing the roads extremely difficult for pedestrians. The BMC had even laid the foundation stone for them on August 30, the Local Self Government Day, last year.

However, even seven months after the foundation-laying ceremony, the project has not made any progress.

Despite that local residents are hopeful that the foot overbridges would some up soon and ease the problems they face while crossing the roads.

A resident of Master Canteen Square said: “We badly need a foot overbridge here. Crossing the roads has become a risky affair. Apart from improving pedestrian safety and reducing the number of accidents in the respective areas, these foot overbridges will also help senior citizens and differently-abled people cross the busy roads with ease. I am sure all the three overbridges will come up soon.”

Initially, it was the issue of plan approval that delayed the process. But now, because of a delay in awarding the tender, the project has failed to take off so far.

Sources said so far only one bidder had shown interest in the foot overbridges to be built in public-private partnership mode though nine bidders were present at the pre-bid conference held on December 9, 2011. The last day for submission of request for proposal was January 10, 2012. The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation will assist the BMC in executing the project.

“Though we have been raising the issue for the last two years, the pace at which it is moving is very disheartening. The civic body must expedite the process to provide safety to the pedestrians who are facing difficulties because of the rise in the number of vehicles in the capital,” said Sk Nijjamudin, a councillor, adding that just three foot overbridges were not enough, as there were many such vulnerable crossings in the city.

The foot overbridges at Master Canteen Square and Jayadev Vihar Square will have lifts, whereas the one near Ramadevi Women’s College will have a ramp for pedestrians. All the three foot overbridges will have two staircases and drinking water facility, footpaths, barricades and dustbins. The carrying capacity of the each lift will be at least 13 passengers.

They will be built with an internal width of at least three metres connecting all sides of the road. Their vertical clear height from road level to the bottom of the skywalk would be six metres. There is also a plan to run the facilities with renewable energy sources (solar panels). An area of 400 square metres will be kept for display of advertisements.

“For a long time we have been waiting for the construction of the foot overbridges to start. The awit is becoming a bit longer considering that the foundation stone for all the three foot overbridges was laid last year. During college hours we have to wait for 10-15 minutes to cross the road,” said Pallavi Behera, a student of Ramadevi Women’s College.

The BMC officials said imposition of code of conduct during panchayat polls was one of the reasons behind the delay. “Only one bidder has shown interest in the project. The corporation will soon award the tender for construction of the foot overbridges,” said deputy commissioner of BMC Krushna Prasad Pati.

Construction of a flyover on National Highway 5 at Jayadev Vihar Square has made it made it even more difficult for the pedestrians to cross the road between Nandankanan and Airport Road. They are forced to cross the road navigating heavy traffic during peak hours.

“A foot overbridge at Jayadev Vihar Square is very important as more than 20,000 pedestrians cross the busy Airport-Nandankanan road regularly. Youngsters, mainly engineering students of city-based colleges with their campuses at Chandrasekharpur and Patia, are the most affected of the lot. During peak hours it becomes immensely difficult for them to cross the busy road,” said a resident of Jayadev Vihar, adding, “Let’s hope that the authorities concerned start the projects soon.”