Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dedicated a 460-metre-long flyover bridge for public use at Nuabazar here on the Cuttack-Paradip NH on Friday. The double-lane bridge built at a cost of Rs 37 crore is believed to ease the traffic at the busy junction.
But people here are complaining that the bridge is inconsequential as it would not ease the traffic at the Nuabazar Square since it would be used by very few people of two nearby localities, who would be avoiding the Nuabazar market which is an important business centre for the locals. It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister had laid the foundation-stone of the bridge in November 2008 and it was announced then that the bridge would be completed to public in two years. But it took more than five years for the bridge of little consequence to see the light of the day.
“like many insignificant projects coming up in Cuttack during BJD regime, the Nuabazar flyover is one such and the money spent on it could have been better utilized,” said Tejeswar Sahu, a local businessman. Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister laid the foundation-stone for a bridge over the Mahanadi to connect Badamba with Baideswar in Banki at Gopinathpur in Badamba block of Cuttack district.