Vital bridge completed on under construction strategic Bhaderwahbasholi-pathankot highway

BHADERWAH: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday e-inaugurated 'Puneja Bridge' on the strategically important under construction Bhaderwah-basholi-pathankot National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district. The 50-meter-span bridge over Puneja stream, 10 km from Bhadarwah town on the highway, was built by 114 RCC of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in 36 months at an estimated cost of Rs 409.25 lakh, officials said.

They said the completion of the bridge would facilitate the widening of the road at a rapid pace and would also pave the way to move heavy machinery which are required for the construction of the proposed Chattagala tunnel on this road. Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, addressed the gathering through video-conference from Delhi after the e-inauguration of the bridge.

He said, Despite the lockdown,

we made it sure that the developmental works should not get affected in Doda district and there should be no paucity of the labour to continue the developmental activities."

"Perhaps Doda is the only district in the country where not one but three big tunnels are being built at Kaljugasar, which will connect the area with Chamba (Himachal Pradesh), Sudmahadev tunnel and Chattargala tunnel on Bhaderwah-basholi-pathankot Road, which will provide all weather connectivity to Kashmir from Punjab," Singh, who represents Doda-udhampurkathua constituency in Parliament, said.

The 185-km-long Bhaderwah-basholi-pathankot highway, besides having a strategic importance for defence, will also provide a vital alternate

link to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country through Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.