Causeway or bridge? Kartarpur corridor hits roadblock

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), May 27

The 4th ‘Technical Committee’ meeting on the Kartarpur corridor held between senior Indian and Pakistani officials at zero line on Monday has hit the bridge-causeway roadblock.

While India suggested that an 800-metre bridge should be built on the Ravi, the Pakistani delegation, fearing flooding during the monsoon season which could erode the bridge, suggested the need to construct a causeway.

During the last round of talks, the bridge-causeway dispute had surfaced and no breakthrough could be achieved. Even in today’s confabulations, talks had to be suspended as both sides struck to their respective stands.

A causeway refers to a roadway supported mostly by earth or stone while a bridge supports a roadway between piers.

The Ravi flows between the two borders. The Indian government is responsible for constructing 300 metre of the structure falling within its jurisdiction while Pakistan will be building the remaining 500 metres. 

The Indian side comprised officials drawn from the Ministry of Home Affairs, National Highway Authority of India, Land Ports Authority of India, BSF and drainage department of the Punjab government.

From the Pakistan side, officials of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) were present. FWO is a military engineering organisation and is considered to be one of the major technological institutions of the Pakistan army. It is credited with construction of bridges, roads, tunnels, airfields and dams in Pakistan. The road and other infrastructure being built by Pakistan on its side of the border are being supervised by the FWO. 

The confabulations, which took place for nearly two hours, were held amid a tight security cover provided by BSF and Pakistani Rangers.

Sources say the Pakistani side was apprehensive that excess water during the monsoons could endanger the proposed bridge and instead they wanted a causeway.

Highly-placed sources claimed that if no headway is made then diplomats from both sides will step in to break the ice.

Sources say the controversial issues pertaining to passport and visa requirements and the composition of the 10-member committee set up by the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to screen visitors were not discussed as they “did not fall under the preview of the Technical Committee”.

Punjab Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who supervised the land acquisition process for the corridor and the Integrated Check Post (ICP), today expressed optimism that the corridor would be completed by November when the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev commence.

“The joint meetings are acting as a catalyst in getting the project completed on time. I hope the bridge-causeway dispute will be solved soon,” he maintained.