Orissa CM lays foundation stone for bridge

Cuttack, Feb 12 (PTI) Orissa Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik today laid the foundation stone for the second bridgeover river Kathajodi here to connect the ''Millennium city''with the Capital city.

The bridge, unique of its kind in the state, wouldhave three lanes and its width would measure 14.5 meters.

��������Laying the foundation stone of the bridge to be builtat an estimated cost of Rs 112 crore, Patnaik hoped that thebridge would be dedicated to people in next three years. Thebridge with a length of 2.815 km would connect the city fromBelle view here to Trishulia on the other side of the river.

������ �The bridge would considerably reduce the distancebetween the twin cities�, Patnaik said after the foundationstone laying ceremony. The bridge is coming up with Nabardfinancial assistance and Hyderabad-based HES Corporation haswon the bid in a global tender.

�������� The proposed bridge would be second one on the riverto facilitate the connectivity of the twin cities of Cuttackand Bhubaneswar. While the earlier twin-bridge is part of theNational Highway-5, the new one would shorten the distancefrom Cuttack-Bhubaneswar by nearly 10 kms.

������ �Moreover, the proposed bridge would also reduce thetraffic on National Highway to a great extent as people of thecity on the western limits would prefer the new bridge totravel to Bhubaneswar�, said the Cuttack city legislatorDebashis Samantray. .