A bridge, now constructed over the Gurupriya river, is expected to be opened to traffic by the first week of July ending the cut-off days for 151 villages situated across the Balimela reservoir in Malkangiri district.
A cluster of 150-odd villages spread over 900 sqkm is literally cut off from the rest of the Malkangiri district and is caught in the crossfire of Maoists violence and retaliation by security forces. “As many as 18 out of 22 pillars for the bridge have been constructed and concrete slabs on six pillars have been in place. We have sped up our work and are hopeful of completing it by June end,” say executive engineer Arun Kumar Sahu of Malkangiri PWD. The 910 meter long bridge connecting Janbaio south was started in 2015 at an estimated cost of Rs172.58 crore.
The cut-off area has played host to bouts of violence and counter violence in ambush laid by Maoists in which many arm forces were killed. Besides, Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna was abducted by the Maoist rebels from the region.
It is sure that the bridge will expedite development in the cut-off area as the extremists in the area often benefit from the lack of connectivity in the region. This has led to them into making efforts to stop the execution of the project on several occasions. The State Government too had made attempts to restart the project at least four times in the last decade.
At least five BSF camps have been set up between Chitrakonda and Janbaoi to avoid any eventuality. The BSF is on high alert to tackle any unwanted situation by the Maoists. The 104 BSF battalion stands deployed at Badapada, located inside the cut-off area.
Again villagers say that rather than the Maoists, what worries them more is the prevalence of diseases such as malaria and jaundice. “Once a bridge is constructed, at least ambulances can travel deep inside,” they hope.