Keonjhar, Sept 12: After consulting with other government senior officials, the Keonjhar Collector N Tirumala Nayak informed that as the locals intensified their protest on Monday by not allowing the construction work to continue, the district administration has decided to halt the construction work of Belbahali bridge under Anandpur sub-division for two days and hope that in the coming days the situation would return back to normal.
As per sources, to decide the future course of action, the administration is convening a high-level meeting on Tuesday.
Notably, the villagers belonging to Belabahali have been protesting the construction of bridge over the river Kusei on the national highway no. 215 for last two years. However, the construction firm-Gayatri projects began the construction work on Friday afternoon amidst police security. On Friday night and Saturday, tension gripped the construction site area as the villagers gathered at the site and pelted stones at the police owing to which police had to spread tear gas shells and fire rubber bullets at the protestors which cause injuries to four villagers and two policemen.
