**Bhubaneswar: ** Urging urgent intervention, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday (May 24) dashed a letter to Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for directing the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for taking immediate action towards construction of the second bridge over river Brahmani near Panposh of Rourkela in Sundargarh district on NH-143.
Drawing the Union Minister’s attention, the CM in his letter has mentioned that the completion of the much-awaited second bridge would alleviate the traffic congestion on the existing old and weak bridge in the larger public interest.
“There is an old narrow two lane bridge over river Brahmani on the NH-143, located near Panposh of Rourkela, connecting Birmitrapur and Barkote. It carries a heavy and congested mining and commercial traffic. This road is the economic life line of this part of the State and is catering to the rapid industrialisation process. The bridge is in a distressed condition and is not at all adequate to meet the requirement of safe and swift movement of the people and the freight,” mentions the Odisha CM.
The CM in his letter also apprehends that communication between Sambalpur and Rourkela may be severed at any time and abruptly disrupt the movement of coal, minerals and other products in this part of the State.
“This would have a detrimental impact on the economy of the State. I have raised this issue in many forums but am still waiting for a tangible action from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to prevent any impending disaster,” a concerned Naveen tells Nitin in his letter.
Meanwhile, Rourkela MLA (BJP) Dilip Ray has expressed his gratitude on twitter.
I am thankful to Hon'ble CM @Naveen_Odisha for taking up the matter of the Brahmani bridge with Shri @nitin_gadkari ji
— Dilip Ray (@dilipraybjp) May 25, 2017
