A second bridge over the Mahanadi in Sambalpur town was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday by walking on the bridge and waving hands at people.

The bridge was constructed at an expenditure of Rs 117.72 crore. The Sambalpur town will now directly connect with Chiplima, Charpur and Gosala and will reduce the distance to Bargarh by about 15 km.

Besides, the Chief Minister inaugurated 18 projects which included the first ropeway of western Odisha connecting Jawahar Garden of Hirakud to Gandhi Minar top of the Hirakud Dam. The main projects include the administrative building of the District Headquarters Hospital, 300-bed ladies hostel of the Gangadhar Meher Junior College and a 300-bed ladies hostel of the Veer Surendra Sai Medical Science and Research (VIMSAR), Burla.

 He also laid foundation-stones of a slew of projects.

He announced sanctioning of five new projects for Sambalpur. The projects are Rs 10-crore bridge at Balibandhi, Rs 15-crore four-laning of the National Highway at Durgapali, Rs 40-crore four-laning of the Zilla School -Naxapali road and Rs 20-crore bridge over Maltijore on Sambalpur-Gunderpur road.

Patnaik handed over a cheque of Rs 2 crore to the district Collector for development of the Veer Surendra Sai Stadium.

Patnaik also addressed a rally of over 30,000 volunteers of the Biju Yuva Vahini (BYV) and lauded their role during the recent natural calamity in the State. BYV chief Arup Patnaik said about 2.5 lakh youths have joined the Vahini, which is one of the largest such organisations of the world.  

As many as 76 persons, including BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra, former Sambalpur Municipality Chairman Girish Patel and former BJP district president Nauri Nayak, were detained by police before the Chief Minister’s visit.

A team of the Sambalpur Bar Association led by its president Brijendriya Pradhan met the CM and submitted a memorandum requesting him to depute a high power delegation to New Delhi to pursue with the Union Law Ministry about their demand of establishment of a permanent High Court Bench in western Odisha.