Bidar: The bridge over the Manjra river near Saigaon village in Bhalki taluk, that connects Karnataka and Maharashtra border, was formally inaugurated by District in-charge Minister Eshwar Khandre on Sunday.
All these years, the Manjra would flow over the old bridge after heavy rains, cutting off connections between Bhalki town and 22 villages in the taluk.
The new taller bridge will help counter such situations. The Public Works Department had allowed movement of vehicles a month ago, to help commute during the monsoon.
The 150 metre long bridge built at a cost of Rs. 13 crore also reduces the travelling distance from Bhalki taluk to villages on the Maharashtra side by around 30 kilometres.
Work on the bridge began in January 2014 and was expected to be completed by April 2015. However, it got delayed by a year, pushing up construction costs slightly.
Irrigation department has built bridge cum barrages in Kongali, Sangam and Halasi. The bridge near Sangam village was inaugurated in June.
Zilla panchayat president Bharatbai Sherikar, vice-president Prakash Patil, PWD chief engineer Suryakant Sringeri and others were present.
