Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday inaugurated ‘Atal Setu’ which is going to be North India’s first cable-stayed bridge and the fourth-of-its-kind in the country on river Ravi at Basholi in Kathua district of Jammu region.
The bridge will act as a lifeline 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.
This bridge will also open the flood-gate for the tourists to the picturesque areas of Basohli, Bani, Sarthal and Bhaderwah from Dalhousie and Chamba sides.
Strategically, for defence forces deployed in the State it is expected to improve the overall security calculus of the region during war and emergency situations.
Situated on Dunera-Basohli-Bhadarwah-Doda-Ananatnag axis this 592 meter long cable suspension bridge will provide alternate connectivity to Doda and rest of the Kashmir Valley, in addition to the existing NH-44.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh,lt-Gen KJ Singh, Army Commander, Western Command and lt-Gen RM Mittal, Director General Border Roads were present on the occasion along with MOS PMO Jitendra Singh and local BJP MlA and state Health Minister lal Singh.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed, who was camping in Srinagar for past few days had to be airlifted to New Delhi early morning after he complained of uneasiness, could not attend the inauguration ceremony. Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh also remained conspicuous due to his absence. No other politician or State Cabinet Minister was present on the occasion.
With the inauguration of the bridge the long cherished dream of local population deprived of proper road connectivity was fulfilled.
Soon after the formal ceremony was over defence Minister Manohar Parrikar interacted with the local residents who were upbeat to see their dream coming true in front of their eyes.
Jubilant residents thronged the bridge in large numbers and appreciated the engineering marvel created by the spirited team of engineers in the last over four years.
The work on the maiden cable-stay bridge in Jammu and Kashmir started in September 2011 on the demand of people of Basohli where over 22 villages were submerged in water and evacuated to other places after the construction of Ranjit Sagar dam.
The 592-metre span bridge was constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at a cost of Rs 145 crore. It is a joint venture of Indian Railway Construction Company limited (IRCON) and SP Singla Construction group.
The Basohli bridge is fourth of its kind in India. The other three cable-stayed bridges are, Hooghly Bridge at Kolkata, Naini Bridge in Allahabad and Worli Sea link in Mumbai, officials said.
In real terms the local population would be able to reap rich dividends of economic/tourism activity in the region after the completion of double lane road which will further augment the 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 this bridge, it will 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 RanjitSagar Dam at Basohli provided it is being developed as a tourist spot.