Two foot overbridges to be built in Bhubaneswar

Two foot overbridges to be built in Bhubaneswar

The state capital Bhubaneswar is soon going to have two foot overbridges. The two locations selected for the purpose are Master Canteen and Jayadev Bihar. Apart from the staircases, the bridges will also have elevators or lifts on both the sides so that the older persons and children can commute conveniently. 

The construction work of the foot overbridges started on August 1, 2013. Though the foundation stone of the Jayadev Vihar foot overbridge was laid long back in the year 2011, construction work started this Friday owing to land disputes.  The bridges will have skywalk of around 35 meters across the road. The elevators that will be attached on both the sides of the bridge will have the carrying facility of 13 people at a time. The structural design for the bridges has already been done. Sources say that it was sent to National Institute of Technology, Rourkela for approval. The institute has approved the design and hence the work is expected to start soon. The estimated expenditure of each foot overbridge is Rs 2 crore. After the completion of the construction work, the maintenance work of the bridges will be given to a private agency. The agency will also be given the authority to monitor advertising on the foot overbridge. In return the agency will pay the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Rs 5 laks per annum. 

Sources say that the foot overbridge was to be built near the fly over of Jayadev Vihar. But it was shifted around 200meters towards Pal Heights as adequate land for the flyover was not available. But people are not happy over the change of location as the new location is not going to serve any purpose. The pedestrians will have to walk this extra distance only to walk over. Jayadev Vihar and Master Canteen are two busiest places in the city. According to sources, BMC is planning to build the third foot over bridge in the city once the construction work of these two bridges completes. The third foot overbridge is is expected to be built at Saheed Nagar near RD Women’s College.