The proposed foot overbridge at Jayadev Vihar Square will be thrown open to public within a month with authorities working on the final installations at the facility.
The under-construction bridge at Jayadev Vihar in Bhubaneswar.
At present, the contractor is in the process of installing two lifts on both sides, ramps on the staircase for differently-abled persons and drinking water facility for the people.
“We are working on providing some additional features on the bridge, especially keeping in mind the need of differently-abled persons.
We will install tactile tiles, which will help the visually challenged persons find their ways.
Apart from this, we will also install ramps on the staircase, and lift will also be there to help the persons,” said a senior official of Ajanta Advertiser, the private partner that took up the project.
He further said the bridge would also have facilities such as cold drinking water kiosks, mobile charging points and shoe-shining machines. “The bridge will be lit up with energy efficient LED bulbs. The work is in the final stage. It will be over within a month. The bridge will be thrown open to the public,” he said. The project costs around Rs 2 crore.
Notably, this will be the first foot overbridge in Bhubaneswar.
The bridge will benefit a large number of citizens residing at Jayadev Vihar, Ekamra Vihar, Sriram Vihar, BDA Colony and its surrounding areas. This is the stretch, which connects commuters with the Nandankanan zoo and Patia, making it one of the busy stretches after Janpath.
“Jayadev Vihar is a one of the busy squares in the city that witnesses rapid flow of vehicles. Pedestrians are always at risk while crossing roads. This stretch houses a number of posh hotels, hospital and educational institutions.
A foot overbridge here is a necessity. This would benefit many,” said local resident Basudev Sahu.
However, the overbridge has missed its deadline by nearly two years. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had planned the project in the PPP mode in 2012, but work began late in 2014. Sources said the process to finalise the bridge’s location, 2014 general elections and unexpected weather had delayed the project.
“First, the bridge was proposed near the autorickshaw stand on the square. The auto drivers had opposed the move and the project got delayed in the beginning,”said a civic body official request of anonymity.
“Later, we stopped the work due to the 2014 general elections. Later, weather remained another hurdle for the work. The traffic is one more hiccup in continuing the work on this stretch,” he said.
Moreover, the civic body had also proposed to build two more foot overbridges — one near the Rama Devi Women’s University and the other at Master Canteen.
Work on these is, however, yet to begin. A corporation official said both the bridges had been planned on the Janpath, which was first chosen to be the corridor of Bus Rapid Transport System and now the stretch comes under Bhubaneswar Town Centre District under the Smart City Project.
“Under the Bus Rapid Transport System, chances are there for further expansion of the road, for which we had to stall the project. Also under the Bhubaneswar Town Centre District, this stretch will see an array of developments. We don’t want to risk money by building the bridge in a hurry and later demolish the same for other projects. However, the project is not cancelled, we hope to begin the work this year,” said the official.
Source : The Telegraph , 20th June 2016
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