CUTTACK: A second bridge connecting Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, was unveiled by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday. The 2.81 km bridge, named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, is the longest in the State.
Built at an approximate `114 crore, the bridge over river Kathajodi, a tributary of river Mahanadi, took six years to complete. Naveen, who took a walk on the bridge before officially dedicating it to the Nation, said the new bridge will be a milestone for infrastructure development in the State.
“Netaji was born in Cuttack and I am glad to have dedicated the longest bridge of the State after the great son of soil,” Naveen said. The bridge over river Mahanadi near Cuttack used to be the longest in the State and measured about 2.6 km.
Stating that the social index is related to development of infrastructure, Naveen said Odisha is ahead of other developing states in different social parameters. He said, in the year 2000, the total length of the roads in Odisha was 16,000 kms and its figure has increased to 26,000 kms. The budget for construction of roads in the State has also has increased 40 times, he said adding each district headquarter has been connected with four line roads.
Netaji Setu, the state-of-the-art bridge standing on 68 pillars, will not only lessen the distance between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack by 12 km but also help divert traffic and ease commuting because it connects to the side of Cuttack where the Orissa High Court and Barabati Stadium are located.
“A substantial traffic load will now be diverted to this route because people commuting to High Court and CDA areas can use the road from Bhubaneswar’s Patia side,” Secretary, Works Department, Nalini Kanta Pradhan said.
With this route open, the two biggest stadiums of the State - Barabati in Cuttack and Kalinga in Bhubaneswar - will be located on the same axis.This bridge also will be significant for reduction of travel time to Sambalpur as the second bridge on Mahanadi is underway and expected to be ready by 2019. Once complete, it will act as a ring road to the existing Cuttack-Sambalpur National Highway 55 which takes a circuitous route through the Millennium City. The two bridges will directly connect traffic to the NH at Bali Chhaka.Besides, a number of outlying areas of Cuttack district will now have direct access to Cuttack City by virtue of Netaji Setu.