Avtar Bhat
BASOHLI, June 19: Rs 145 crore Cable Stayed bridge over river Ravi on Ranjit Sagar Dam at Basohli that will be an alternative route connecting J&K with neighbouring States of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will now be completed by March 2015. The bridge is also first of its kind in Northern India.
Sources said earlier the completion date of the bridge was September this year but due to certain reasons the construction was delayed by nine months.
The work on the bridge was started in September 2010 on the persistent demand of people of Basohli where over 22 villages got submerged in water and were evacuated to other places after the construction of Ranjit Sagar dam, sources added.
The 592 meter span bridge is being constructed by Border Roads Organization (BRO). It is a joint venture of IRCON a Railway Company and SP Singla Construction. Out of 592 Span bridge 350 meter span is cable stayed while rest is plain bridge.
The peculiarity of this bridge is that the main span and back span are balanced by cable and this bridge has been designed by Canadian Company, Infinity Engineers. One Engineer of the company is also monitoring the work at sight.
The 75 percent work of the bridge is complete and 25 percent will be completed within next nine months, said Project Manager, SP Singla Construction, Devender Rana. The two towers of the bridge and side span is complete while 242 meters of main span 121 from each side are to be laid, he added.
He said the construction was delayed by certain reasons which include design rechecking at site of work, the hailstorm at the dam site which hampers the work as great risk is involved in operation tower crane during that period.
The cost of the construction will also increase by 10 to 20 lakh due to price escalation, he added.
The bridge will act as a life line for the people of Basohli and Bani tehsils and it will shorten their distance of travel to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to a great extent.
However the construction of bridge will only serve the purpose after the double lanning of road from Basohli to Mahanpur is undertaken in hand which is presently a single lane road and some potion of which is also in dilapidated condition.
The people of Basohli are demanding that the road be double lanned and handed over to BRO for its speedy construction so that it can become and inter-state connectivity linking Basohli and Bani with Bhadarwah from one side and Basohli and Billawar with Udhampur and Kashmir Valley on other side.
With the construction of the bridge, it will also help in promotion of tourism in the area as a large number of tourists visiting picnic spot of Dalhousie and other sight seeing places in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh can also visit the Ranjit Sagar Dam at Basohli provided the State Government takes interest in developing the dam as a tourist spot, said Jagdish Raj Sapolia, MLA Basohli.
Moreover, it will also help in boosting pilgrimage tourism and other tourists to sight seeing places in Basohli, Bani and Billawar tehsils, he added.
He said after the construction of the bridge, a long pending demand of the people of Basohli and Bani has been fulfilled but it will be of no use till a two lane road is constructed from Basohli to Mahanpur and linked to Dhar road.
The BRO is ready to take the possession of the road and MLA has also written a letter to State Government to handover the road to BRO so that the construction of the same will be taken up in hand and it will be made an inter-State connectivity said Rajat Sharma a social activist from Basohli.
The people of Basohli tehsil are hopeful that bridge will help in promotion on tourism in the tehsils of Basohli, Bani and Billawar, besides giving a boost to the ancient Basohli art and handicrafts, said Ved Fanda president Beopar Mandal Basohli.
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