BERHAMPUR:A small portion of the British era bridge over river Boda on Balipadar-Chadhiapali under Belaguntha block chipped off, bringing vehicular traffic to a halt on Friday.
The 200-metre-long iron bridge was constructed by the Britishers in 1933 and is the shortest route between Belaguntha and Balipadar. However, the bridge was never renovated or maintained. Two days back, some cracks had appeared at various places of the bridge and officials did not repair it. The bridge is located 30 ft above the river.
On Friday, around 10 metres of the bridge chipped off from Chadhiapalli side and the iron pieces fell into water. Some cyclists raised an alarm and traffic on the bridge came to a standstill. Receiving information, Works Department officials and police personnel reached the spot and closed the bridge from both the sides. Later, Bhanjanagar Sub-Collector Laxmikanta Sethi and Tehsildar Prabhat Kumar Panda made arrangements for diversion of traffic to Adheipur-Nimapur-Ambapua route. The Sub-Collector said a temporary bridge will be set up near Adheigaon over river Boda to handle the traffic till the old bridge is repaired.