Anandpur, Aug 19: The construction of a new bridge that was scheduled to begin on Thursday, on the Kusei River, near the Belabahali village in Anandpur sub-division of Keonjhar, was opposed by the villagers 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.
Ghasipura police reached the spot to calm down the angry villagers and sought for their cooperation.
The Collector informed that security arrangements with twenty platoons’s of policemen and five Magistrates were deployed 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.
