Keonjhar, Aug 20: The construction of a new bridge on the Kusei River, near Belabahali village in Anandpur sub-division of Keonjhar began on Thursday amid tight security. The work was scheduled to begin on Wednesday but could not begin as the administration earlier had failed to mobilize adequate police force. The construction of bridge was opposed by the villagers on Wednesday as they demanded that the work should be halted till the hearing of the case in the High Court that is scheduled to be held on August 23.
The police and the administration tried to hold discussion with the villagers at the Inspection Bungalow (IB) near Ramachandrapur on Thursday for the smooth flow of construction work at the River. However, the villagers did not attend the meeting even though they had informed that they would be present in the meeting.
Later, the Collector N Thirumala Nayak said that the construction began on Thursday and around 20 platoons of police have been deployed for security at the spot.
The Collector, five magistrates and superintendent of police and the sub-collector were there to oversee the work at the construction site.
Notably, on July 7 2015, while protesting against the decision of NHAI and the district administration for the construction of a new bridge on NH-215, Belabahali villagers and nearby villagers had clashed with the police. It was observed that the Congress and BJD had also protested on this matter. Though the villagers had hoped that the demand would be considered, a notification by the Centre regarding the bridge construction had been issued on June 15, 2016.
