The Public Works Depa-rtment (PWD) has constructed a bridge over Mahanadi linking Birgudi-Bhoomka-Belragaon route in Dhamtari district at a cost of Rs 25 crore. With the construction of the bridge, people of 25 villages are getting benefited.
Earlier, the villagers had to take a detour to reach the other side of the river. During the process, they had to travel an extra 20 kilometers. But with the bridge construction, it has become easy for the villagers as they can save time and money. The length of the bridge is around 1,600 metres.
Recently, PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has said that Rs 53 crore had been spent for the construction of 16 important bridges in 2016-17. Many crucial big and small bridges were built to provide easy access to the remote areas of the State, he said.
The PWD had also built 18 Railway over and under bridges in high density traffic areas in the State at a cost of Rs 300 crore during the last 13 years, said PWD officials.
The PWD Minister said that currently, five key railway over and under bridges are under construction at a cost of Rs 222 crores in Raipur, Bilaspur and Janjgir-Champa districts.The bridges are coming up at Shankar Nagar, Kashiram Nagar, lal Kadan, Khoksa and Champa.
Notably, the State government in May last year annou-
nced that it will take up construction of 63 long-span bridges under ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’ (PMGSY) in different districts.
On the other hand, as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s in initiative ‘Setu Bharatam Yojana’, the PWD has made efforts for construction of over-bridges and under-bridges at railway crossings across the State for ensuring smooth and accident-free vehicular movement, officials said.
In the State Budget 2016-17, Chief Minister Raman Singh has included the proposal of as many as five railway over-bridges under ‘Setu Bharatam Yojana’ for reconstruction of railway level-crossings, old and narrow-bridges falling on National Highways, said officials, adding that of the five bridges, two will be constructed between Manend-
ragarh and Ambikapur, two between Mahasamund and Kharir Road (Odisha) and one at village Keshloor in Bastar district.
For construction of four railway under-bridges and four railway over-bridges, the Chief Minister has made a financial provision of Rs 13.16 crore from the Department’s general expenditure fund in this budget, said Munat. He said that the construction of the eight railway bridges will add upto Rs 54.71 crore, of which Rs 36.55 crore will be the estimated expenditure for construction of four over-bridges while Rs 18.16 crore for construction of four under-bridges.