No bridge over Ravi, Gurdaspur villages remain cut off for months

A widow belonging to an ‘Us-Paar’ village shocked everyone when she told Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi that her husband died of brain haemorrhage because he could not be taken to a hospital as the area lacked a concrete bridge over the river.

‘Us-Paar’ refers to a cluster of seven villages located across the Ravi. The area shares border with Pakistan.

As Kaushalya Devi of Bharial village stirred the Hornet’s Nest, Rahul assured her that he would look into the matter.

He turned to Dinanagar MLA Aruna Chaudhary to get first-hand information. Stories of red-tapism, bureaucratic inertia and partisan politics spontaneously tumbled out as Congressmen informed their boss of the real truth behind the bridge fiasco. Devi is not alone with her tale of woes. Around 3,500 villagers face different problems as they get disconnected from India for nearly four months every year.

An 800-metre concrete bridge, costing Rs 100.48 crore, had been proposed to be built as early as April 2002.

This would have facilitated a lot of development in the area which, in any case, is a sugarcane rich zone.

Before 2004, people had to use PWD boats to cross the Ravi from Makoran to reach the other side. Reacting to the residents’ grievances, MLA Chaudhary pushed all bureaucratic hurdles aside and brought in funds from the PWD to get a pontoon bridge established.

However, this bridge is dismantled during the monsoon leaving villagers to face the vagaries of nature, sans any help from the government. Leave alone middle or small industries, even cottage industries have not been established in these villages.

Due to its inaccessibility, ‘Us-Paar’ residents marry off their daughters the moment they complete their basic education, the old, sick and infirm can’t visit hospitals during the rainy season, mobile companies have been reluctant to set up towers, electricity fluctuates wildly and teachers rarely come to schools.

In August 2021, the Centre sanctioned Rs 100.48 crore from the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF). The exact points from where the bridge’s construction would start and end were selected. However, engineers pointed out that due to the confluence of the Ujh and Ravi, the waters would create a powerful surge. This forced a change in the location of the overpass.

It was then decided to build it 500 metres away, upstream. An amount of more than Rs 10 crore was awarded to farmers for land acquisition by the state government, of which just Rs 2.5 crore had been received so far. Reason enough why the acquisition process has been stalled.