Sambalpur: The second bridge over the Mahanadi in the town will be completed within a month. The bridge will be the connecting link to a satellite town coming up at Charpur across the river which is emerging as an educational hub and a residential zone for various categories of people.

"Work on the bridge is going on in full swing and will be completed in less than a month from now. We are giving finishing touch to the construction," assistant executive engineer of public works department Narayan Patel told The Telegraph.

"The department has sent to the government for approval a proposal to light up the bridge colourfully by spending Rs 80 lakh," he said.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik will throw open the bridge for the people of west Odisha on the eve of Nuakhai, the biggest festival of the region. The approach road on the Nelson Mandela side will be 300-metre long, whileon the Charpur side, the road will be about 1,200-metre long.

The bridge will reduce the distance between Charpur and Sambalpur town by 25 kilometres. It will connect Nelson Mandela Chowk near the collectorate in the town with Charpur. Naveen had laid the foundation stone of the bridge in January 2015. It was initially expected to be completed in 36 months, but the construction company missed deadlines on several occasions. The Rs 98-crore bridge is 1500-metre long and 14.8-metre wide with 1.5-metre-wide footpaths on both sides.

The district administration has drawn up a massive satellite township plan on the other side of the river, allotting government land to various educational institutions in anticipation of quick completion of the bridge. Construction for the buildings of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Sambalpur, the second battalion of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) of Odisha and the second Kendriya Vidyalaya have already started. Land has also been allotted for the proposed second campus of Gangadhar Meher University, Odisha State Open University and Sainik School there.

The Sambalpur Development Authority on Wednesday decided to come up with housing schemes for economically-weaker sections of the people at Charpur. Land will also be allotted to the Odisha State Housing Board for construction of flats for the various categories of people.