The residents of Baruan and surrounding villages of Jajpur District of Orissa had a nightmare during super cyclone, which struck in 1999. During this catastrophe, over 200 people and 5000 cattle of the area were washed away as they could not cross over to safer places in the absence of a bridge. The villagers of Baruan said " had this bridge been built earlier, so many lives could have been saved." Further, they said that they had been losing lives during many high floods in other periods also. The bridge that is so vital for their lives is the High-level Bridge built over Kharasrota on Jajpur-Baruan road in Jajpur district under RIDF-II of NABARD.
The above bridge is located at a distance of 7 kms south to Jajpur town, the Head Quarters of Jajpur District of Orissa. It lies on Major District road – 14 connecting Jajpur town to NH-5 at Kuakhia. The river Kharasrota (locally known as Kharsuan) is a tributary of river Bramhani. The meaning of Kharasrota in Oriya is ‘river with fast currents’.
The construction of this bridge that was started way back in July 1989 hit a roadblock due to paucity of funds and cost escalation. It was stalled for a decade. With the intervention of RIDF in 1997 it got a new lease of life. The bridge construction restarted in December 1999 and was completed in 2002.
Reduction in travel time
The time required to reach from Baruan and its adjacent villages to Jajpur or the nearby places is about 25-45 minutes presently whereas earlier this could be covered only by 4-8 hours with lots of struggle and discomfort. One had to start at early morning and had to wait for hours at the riverbank for a boat. The boat used to take 40-60 minutes to cross the river. Boat was available only between 6 AM and 6 PM, that too only in good weather conditions. People were crossing the river through manually rowed boats. Quite often the boats were boarded beyond their carrying capacities. As frequency of boats was very low - once in an hour - passengers had to wait for a long spell. The boatmen were allowing more passengers taking the risk for paltry an extra earning in a trip. The other route from Baruan to Jajpur by road was via Kuakhia, Panikoili, Sathipur and then Jajpur Town, which was considerably lengthy with a distance of about 40 kms.
Bridge has changed the face of agriculture in the area
The bridge opened communication for rural Haats at Bari, Baruan, Baliapal, Kuakhia, Kabirpur, Madhapur, etc. and direct transportation facilities to the market places at Jajpur Town, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Angul etc. have been made easy. As a result of this, the farmers are now tempted to produce more of cash crops like vegetables. They are now getting better price for the vegetables and there is no distress sale. Quite often the traders do come to the farmers and purchase the vegetables in bulk at farm gate. The bridge made the farmers as well as the consumers gratified as the farmers are getting better price for their produce and the consumers are getting fresh vegetables at a reduced rate.
The retailers and traders now spend less on transportation and labour charges and this benefit has been distributed among the producers, consumers and retail sellers.
Benefits
Distance saving between important places -- 15 to 40 km
Fuel saving per year -- Rs.226 lakhs
Increase in agriculture income per year -- Rs.52.50 lakhs
Increase in price of crops Paddy -- Rs.60 per quintal
Groundnut -- Rs.150 per quintal
Non-recurring employment created -- 2.41 lakh man days
Recurring employment created -- 3264 jobs per year
A boon to landless labourers
The bridge is reported to be advantageous to the landless agricultural workers and wage earners to safely cross the river for work places and seek employment avenues in lean season.
Boost to local trade
The bridge has propelled business activities, and boosted pursuits in construction, transport, industrialization and services sectors in the surrounding areas leading to demand for more recurring labour force.
Easier access to medical care
Medical care service was inadequate for the residents of around 200 villages surrounding the bridge. There were incidents of patients perishing on their way to hospital while waiting for a boat to cross the river. With the opening up of the bridge over Kharasrota, round the clock communication is now available and the district hospital at Jajpur is at a reach of 20 minutes drive from Baruan.
Students benefit a lot
Students from over hundred villages on the right bank of Kharasrota are now able to go for higher education at different institutes like district college, women’s college, engineering college and law college, etc. located at Jajpur. Better communication now enhanced enrolment of girls for higher studies.
People willing to pay user charges - a welcome feature
A majority of the people of the area have expressed willingness to pay the user charges for the bridge. This is particularly welcome feature taking into account abject poverty of the people of the surrounding villages.
The Kharasrota Bridge has brought smiles on the faces of people of Baruan and surrounding villages. It has transformed their lives in more ways than one. The people of this disaster-prone area are now able to cross over to safety and better economic prosperity. Can there be a better way to serve the noble mission of NABARD to achieve prosperity and well being in rural areas!
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