BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to construct 500 bridges across Odisha during the next five years for which Rs 1,900 crore has been allocated in the 2024-25 budget.
This was stated by Rural Development minister Rabi Narayan Naik who inaugurated a two-day national workshop of engineers here on Friday.
The minister said 2,117 long-span bridges under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) have already been completed and another 1,152 are under construction. He asked the engineers to focus on maintenance and security of the bridges after their completion.
Referring to caving in of bridges, the minister advised engineers to give importance to design and location of the bridges in the detailed project reports (DPRs). Multi-modal transport infrastructure, improvement in road safety, affordable transportation and economic movement of goods/commodities will be strengthened and upscaled, he added.
Secretary, Union Rural Development Ministry Sailesh Kumar Singh said design of the bridges should be made keeping in view climate change. Principal secretary, Rural Development department Sanjay Kumar Singh also spoke.
The state government has renamed Biju Setu Yojana as Setu Bandhan Yojana. Construction of 100 bridges will be taken up in 2024-25 under the scheme.