Odisha CM urges Gadkari for second bridge over Brahmani

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 25:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways & Shipping Nitin Gadkari for construction of a second bridge over river Brahmani on National Highway 143 at Rourkela.

Patnaik shot a letter to Gadkari seeking his intervention to direct National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to construct a second bridge over river Brahmani near Panposh at Rourkela in larger public interest stating that the existing narrow two-lane bridge is unable to carry the increasing vehicular load.

The Chief Minister said that the road connecting Biramitrapur to Barkote is a vital route for mineral and commercial transportation and is the economic lifeline of this part of Odisha.

The bridge is in a distressed condition and may snap communication between Sambalpur and Rourkela anytime. This would severely impact the economy of the state, he pointed out.

BJP MLA from Rourkela Dilip Ray using micro blogging site Twitter has thanked the Chief Minister for taking up the second Brahmani bridge issue with Gadkari.

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

Notably, Ray had recently expressed his deep anguish over the Central government’s apathy towards Rourkela as the second bridge over river Brahmani was yet to see the light of the day despite promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also read: Ray hits a raw nerve by raising Centre’s apathy towards Odisha’s Steel City