Cuttack, Nov. 1: A three-lane bridge over Kathajodi river meant to ease vehicular congestion on NH-5, which connects Cuttack with Bhubaneswar, will not open for traffic this winter.
The bridge now has a revised inauguration deadline of April 2017, about three years after it was actually supposed to come up.
The Rs 106-crore project first fell a year behind schedule in 2012 when execution of preliminary works, such as survey and soil testing, was delayed and then there was a change in its design. Then it was decided that the bridge would open around winter this year, a revised deadline that is also set to be missed now, said a senior official of roads & buildings division of the works department.
All 68 pillars of the 2.88-km-long bridge have been constructed across the Kathajodi river from CDA Square up to Trisulia near Barang. But, the concrete slabs are yet to be put on all the pillars and it won't be complete before April next year, said the official.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone for the bridge on February 12, 2011.
It was then decided that the bridge would come up by February 2014.
"We plan to connect the bridge with the river banks by next month," said executive engineer of roads and buildings (Cuttack division) Pramod Kumar Nayak.
A complex bridge design, working in the river and delayed monsoons, reportedly forced the authorities to take up the construction in slow motion.
The bridge, which is said to be longest and first-of-its-kind three-lane bridge in the state, will be a "direct link" between the twin cities.
Constructed with financial assistance from the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), it will also have footpaths for pedestrians on both sides along with dividers and railings.
"Construction of the bridge will be completed by the end of December. But, it will take another three months for the approach roads to be ready," Nayak told The Telegraph.
"At present, it takes around 45 minutes to one hour to cover the distance of 30 kilometres between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. But once the bridge comes up, the distance between CDA Square in Cuttack to Jaydev Vihar in Bhubaneswar via Trishulia and Nandankanan will come down to 20 kilometres," said Satyajit Roy, a resident of Bidanasi in Cuttack, who commutes to Bhubaneswar for work every day.
More than 50,000 vehicles ply between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar through NH-5 every day.
"The three-lane bridge will not only save precious time, but also serve the residents of Barang and create development opportunities for surrounding areas," said Prafulla Mohanty, a resident of Trishulia in Cuttack.
