ROURKELA: The much-needed bridge over river Koel to connect Rourkela with Kuanrmunda block has been caught in tender tangle.
Envisaged as the second gateway to Rourkela, the bridge proposal was unattended by the state government for long till the then Collector SK Meena finalised it last year with funding from District Mineral Fund (DMF).
The project got administrative approval in September last year and Public Works Department was entrusted to execute it.
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Two bidders applied for the project and after bidding was closed on May 18, one of them was selected for technical bid.
The progress, however, seems to have hit a roadblock with possibility of re-tendering looming large. The tender evaluation committee will take a final call on the issue, sources said.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 23 crore and there is no private land on the bridge site to be acquired.
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The proposed bridge would connect Rourkela near Panposh sports hostel on one side and NH-143 at Jamunanaki in Kuanrmunda block on the other side. PWD Assistant Executive Engineer for Panposh sub-division HK Sarangi, though, said the work would start shortly.
Rourkela BJD MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak said he would take up the issue with the government for expeditious execution of the project which would benefit tribal population including farmers and daily labourers of Kuanrmunda block.
The bridge would cut down distance between Rourkela and Kuanrmunda by 15 km.
It will also act as second gateway to Rourkela with the only existing entry point to the city being the old Brahmani bridge of NH-143 at Panposh over Brahmani river.
After six decades of its inception, the Brahmani bridge of NHAI has become weak and dilapidated.
It is not capable of holding the huge volume of vehicles leading to traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, in a separate development the South Eastern Railway General Manager PS Mishra recently assured a delegation of the Rourkela Chamber of Commerce & Industry to explore possibility to raise height and width of the British era railway tunnel at Panposh.
If the tunnel gets widened, it would directly benefit the residents of Panposh area.