No flood threat as Pak agrees to build bridge

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, July 14

With Pakistan finally agreeing to construct a 300-m-long bridge instead of a causeway till the International Border (IB), the threat of floods in Dera Baba Nanak town and its adjoining areas has subsided.

Pakistan had been insisting on constructing a causeway in a low-lying area on its side till the IB, which will be a link with the bridge being established on the Indian side. A causeway, which is basically a road supported by earth or stone, does not allow water to pass under it because there would have been no space. In contrast, officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Ceigall India Limited, a Ludhiana-based firm mandated with the corridor construction, have been demanding that a bridge should be established as it would allow the free flow of the Ravi water.

The issue was first discussed a few months ago when BR Sharma, Special Secretary (Border Management), Ministry of Home Affairs, visited the corridor site. Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and the NHAI officials had urged the Sharma to impress upon Pakistan the futility of constructing a causeway.

Randhawa, who is the Punjab Government’s pointsman to oversee the corridor’s construction in his capacity as Dera Baba Nanak MLA, said, “During monsoon, there would have been flood threat in the town because the causeway would have blocked the natural flow of water. Agreeing that the matter was indeed sensitive in nature, BR Sharma had agreed to take it up with the Pakistan government.”

Jeetendra Singh, vice-president of the construction firm, claimed officials and locals heaved a sigh of relief when they learnt that the Pakistan government had agreed upon a bridge.

“The details of the proposed bridge were shared between both countries. We informed them that the bridge coming up in our territory was 60 per cent complete. We intend to complete the corridor project by October 31,” Jeetendra added.

Officials and locals have heaved a sigh of relief…. We intend to complete the corridor by October 31. The causeway was adding to our concerns and we discussed the flood issue in informal meetings with Pakistan. Finally, better sense prevailed and things have been sorted out. —Jeetendra Singh, vice-president, Ceigall india limited