SAMBALPUR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will visit Sambalpur on Sunday. During his visit, the Chief Minister is scheduled to attend the 2nd Annual Convocation of IIM, Sambalpur at Sambalpur University and address the gathering. Later, he will lay the foundation stone of Rengali-Sapne by-pass road besides distributing freebies to beneficiaries under various development schemes. The Chief Minister will also address a public meeting at Jogipali.
Naveen is slated to inaugurate the newly-constructed 2.5 km long Sapne bridge which connects Rengali block in Sambalpur with Lakhanpur block in Jharsuguda running over the Ib river, a tributary of the Mahanadi river, which flows directly into Hirakud Dam Reservoir before flowing back to Chubaneswar. The bridge will reduce travel time considerably between the two places. This bridge has been a long-pending demand of the people of both the districts.
Although locals have been demanding that the bridge be named after after
Communist leader and former Brajrajnagar MLA late Prasanna Panda, who had led those displaced by Hirakud Dam Project for their legitimate rights, the State Government is yet to take any decision.