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Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, October 1
Fearing a retaliation attack by Pakistan on a cluster of seven villages situated across the river Ravi, the state government has ordered PWD to get the 750-feet long pontoon bridge constructed within 72 hours.
The bridge at Makkoran Pattan village, the confluence point of rivers Ujh and Ravi, is dismantled in June every year and is reconstructed in the first week of November. However, this time, keeping in view the volatile situation the structure will be ready by October 3.
Construction work is going on in full swing with the PWD authorities working overtime to meet the deadline.
“In the event of a conflict, residents will be forced to cross the river in boats before reaching Gurdaspur.
The boats, in any case, are unable to take such a heavy load. The state government has taken the decision of getting the pontoon bridge ready a month ahead of schedule after a lot of deliberations. The army and the BSF have also been consulted,” Gurdaspur DC Pardeep Sabharwal said.
The bridge, when completed, can take a load of 5 tonnes which is enough for army trucks and tractor-trolleys to move.
Residents, however, are not satisfied. They claim that for the last several decades they had been demanding a permanent bridge instead of a pontoon bridge.
“Education, transport and health facilities are non-existent in our villages. They can improve only if we have a permanent structure that can connect us to the city throughout the year. We have requested the authorities many times but all we get is the “lack of funds” excuse. If the government can not give us a concrete bridge better merge the island with Pakistan which is just a stone’s throw away,” Jaswant Singh of Mummy Chakranga village said.
The official line is that neither the Army nor the BSF are willing to give permission for the construction of a concrete bridge.
“Funds are not a problem. The fact is that the security forces refuse to give a green signal. They say construction of a permanent bridge is not possible because of security considerations,” the DC said.