Himachal Deputy CM lays foundation stone of double-lane bridge in Una

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a double-lane bridge from Ghaluwal to Jhalera across the Swan river in Una district.

The new bridge will be constructed alongside the existing structure built in 1962, when Una was part of Punjab. The old narrow bridge had sustained damage during floods in the last monsoon season.

The 292.5-metre-long bridge is part of the Amritsar-Bhota NH-503A project, sanctioned a few years ago, at an estimated cost of Rs 37 crore. It will connect the Una and Haroli Assembly segments.

The proposed Rs 1,000-crore Lathiani-Mandli bridge over the Gobind Sagar reservoir of the Bhakra dam, also part of the same road project, is expected to reduce the distance between Una and Hamirpur by about 20 km once completed.

Agnihotri said the bridge, which serves as a gateway to the Haroli segment, would significantly improve traffic management and ensure safer movement.

He said the increasing traffic load and structural limitations of the existing bridge necessitated its replacement in the interest of public safety.

The Deputy CM said missing links in road connectivity during the monsoon in the Haroli segment were being addressed at a cost of Rs 132 crore. Several bridges over tributaries of the Swan river are at different stages of completion.

These include two bridges in Chandpur and one each in Ispur, Gondpur Jaichand, Haroli, Badhera, Kangar and Palakwah villages. Work is also under way on a major bridge over the Swan river connecting Pandoga in Haroli with Teuri in the Kutlehar segment, at a cost of Rs 52 crore.