Patnaik inaugurates new railway over bridge

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday inaugurated a railway over bridge (ROB) here and also laid the foundation stone for a Cooperative Ginning Mill at Digapahandi in Ganjam district.

Patnaik inaugurated the 700-meter long ROB through a video conference. The ROB is constructed to make easy traffic conjunction in the area with an expenditure of about Rs 27.43 crore, including Rs 11-crore as the share of the railway, sources said.

The ROB will be beneficial to the people going to Bhubaneswar, Chhatrapur and Gopalpur-on Sea without facing traffic jam in the city, said executive engineer Road and Building Tapan Kumar Panigrahy.

There are five ROBs in the city. Other ROBs are opened for traffic included Kamapalli-Lanjipalli, Haladiapadara and Goshaninuagaon and Gopalpur junction.

Construction of these ROBs is the long-standing demands of the local people. The traffic congestion, particularly during the peak hours, will be solved with these ROBs, said MP (Berhampur) Chandra Sekhar Sahu.

The Executive engineer said they have also proposals for the construction of two more ROBs in and around Berhampur.

These include Jagannathpur (Rs 30-crore) and Ambapua (Rs 35-crore) on the outskirts of the city. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid foundation stones for these projects on January 27, last year.

Before the inauguration of the Langipalli-Engineering School Road ROB, several members of the BJPs local unit staged black flag demonstration on both sides of the bridge.

Police detained 25 of the demonstrators. The BJP supporters protested that the approach road of the bridge from Lanjipalli side was not constructed. "There is no need to inaugurate the bridge in a hurry without its completion," said Kanhu Charan Pati, former district president of BJP.

The CM also laid the foundation stone for a Cooperative Ginning Mill at Digapahandi in Ganjam district.

"The Cooperative Ginning Mill will provide jobs to 100 skilled and unskilled workers besides helping cotton growers of nearby 6 blocks," the chief minister said.

The Cooperative Ginning Mill will be set up in PPP mode with a total investment of Rs 2.10 crore. 

(Image: PTI)