Nand Nala bridge work gathers pace, rekindles hope in villagers
With the work for the construction of a bridge over Nand Nala gathering pace, local residents are a happy lot. Inhabitants of at least 10 villages, who live on the banks of the Pong Lake, are upbeat as once complete the bridge will provide year-round connectivity to them.
Pertinent to mention here that backwaters of the lake had been playing spoilsport in ensuring connectivity to the area for over 50 years, since the dam came up. Soon after monsoon, the lake water would cut off these villages for six months, much to the inconvenience of the residents, mostly dam oustees.
The pace of the work at the construction site has picked up and the pillars have started to appear. Sinking of the underground wells (foundations) initially caused an unusual delay, but the efforts of the Public Works Department finally bore fruit. The bridge will benefit a large population.
Sensing the project’s importance, Dehra MLA Kamlesh Kumari had made repeated visits to the site providing the much-needed impetus to the work that was earlier going on at a snail’s pace.
“Suresh Walia, Executive Engineer, Dehra, is also credited for going extra mile to rectify the sinking wells. The wells initially created a lot of trouble resulting in the delay in the construction of the bridge that was awaited by the residents since 1971,” said Sanjiv, a resident of Nandpur.
The bridge once completed would pave the way for the growth of tourism in the Haripur-Guler-Nandpur region that has been neglected for long. Suresh, a resident of Barial, said, “The entire landscape is acknowledged globally as the birthplace for many art forms. Several villages that are now submerged were governed from the region prior to independence. It still holds great tourism potential if monuments and connected stories lost in times are revived.”