Dusks will no more bring in darkness on the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Setu over Kathajodi river here as it will now be lit up by the glow of 494 twinkling LED lights.

On July 19, 2017, chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the bridge that serves as a new link between the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. But the 2.81-km stretch of bridge had since remained bereft of streetlights.

As a result, the bridge continued to be plunged into complete darkness after sunset. Works minister Prafulla Mallik inaugurated the street-lighting system on the bridge on Saturday evening.

G-ON Energy Cables — a Bhubaneswar-based company was given the contract on April 5 to light-up the bridge at a cost of Rs 3.17 crore.

Cuttack (roads & buildings) division executive engineer M.R. Khan said illumination of the bridge after sunset would be done by solar hybrid auxiliary LED street lighting system with 247 light posts, each having two lights.

“This is the first bridge in the state to use solar power on the entire length of 2.18km for lighting,” Khan said.

The delay in lighting up the bridge that connects Cuttack on the Odisha Judicial Academy side with Trishulia on the other side of the river had been cause for concern.

Social activist Chittaranjan Mohanty said: “A major aspect involving safety of commuters on the bridge was lighting. It’s good to know that the bridge finally has streetlights after nearly 15 months of inauguration.”

The light posts have been designed to be conducive for fixing CCTV cameras in future.

Khan said as part of the project, four hi-max lights have been put for approach lighting to the bridge on both sides. While one hi-max light of 16 metres height has been installed at Trishulia Square on the approach road to the bridge on the southern side, three Hi-Max lights – one of 20 metres height and another two of 16 metres height have been fixed at CDA Square on the approach road to the bridge on northern side, he said.

Public works department built the bridge in almost six years. It cost nearly Rs 114 crores. The bridge has footpath on both sides for pedestrians and cyclists.