CUTTACK: Nirmal Sahoo, who owns a small hotel at Trisulia Square, was a happy man on Wednesday. The inauguration of the new bridge connecting the twin cities and the resulting proximity of the two means just one thing for the hotel owner - more customers.Appreciative of the flow of vehicles on the bridge on the first day itself, Nirmal, who earns at least Rs 300 on a normal day, is hopeful that his hotel will soon need an expansion plan."More people will now travel through the bridge and accordingly, demand for my sweets and snacks will also rise. I will, in due course, expand my hotel by making an investment of Rs 20,000, to cash in on the opportunity," said Sahoo.Sahoo is not a lone case. People residing in Trisulia, Baranga and nearby villages are now closer to the capital city than ever.Earlier, people from Athagarh, Banki, Badamba, Tigiria, Narsinghpur blocks had to travel a considerably longer distance via Cuttack city to reach Bhubaneswar. But now they can reach the capital and Cuttack within minutes. The commute to the Cuttack collector's office, the Orissa high court and the state's premier pediatric hospital from the interior villages will also take considerably lesser time now.The real estate experts foresee that the bridge will lead to a hike in property prices on the Trisulia to Patia stretch. "Cuttack is a congested city, so many people are unable to buy property here. For them, the stretch will become the most sought after area. With better connectivity between twin cities, residents in both the cities will be interested to own property on the stretch," said the chairman of CredaiI, D S Tripathy. Credai the apex body representing private real estate developers.Debashish Samantray, MLA of the Cuttack- Barabati constituency, said the bridge will serve as an economic corridor. "At present, the railway track at Baranga is creating traffic jams. But the railways have assured that they will start using the overhead rail line at Baranga by end of this year. Now farmers, vegetable vendors and traders from Athagarh and nearby blocks can reach Bhubaneswar within minutes and can sell their products at good prices. The bridge will change economy of the area," said Samantray.

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