Work on bridge for island villages to begin today

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 15

Set to provide a major relief to the residents of 16 island villages falling in the Mand area of Sultanpur Lodhi, the work to construct a permanent bridge to connect them to the mainland is set to start on Saturday.

The bridge with a span of 180 m will be constructed from Patti Balubahadur village in the mainland to Baupur in the Mand area. The PWD will get the bridge constructed at a cost of Rs 9.83 crore. Coming up as a part of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at Sultanpur Lodhi, the work is slated to be completed in six months.

As of now, the villages are connected by way of a pontoon bridge which cannot bear heavy-weight vehicle like tractors. In the monsoon season, when the bridge is removed for three months for safety reasons, a single boat remains the lifeline of the residents of 16 villages spread in an area of 25,000 acre. People living in the mand area have to wait for hours for the boat to return on their side to move across to the mainland.