Opening sans Pak bridge

DERA BABA NANAK: The Kartarpur corridor, comprising a 4.6-km stretch of road on both sides of the border and a state-of-the-art Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the Indian side, will be operationalised by October 30 despite the fact that the Pakistan government may not be able to complete the construction of a 300-metre bridge.

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, October 1

The Kartarpur corridor, comprising a 4.6-km stretch of road on both sides of the border and a state-of-the-art Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the Indian side, will be operationalised by October 30 despite the fact that the Pakistan government may not be able to complete the construction of a 300-metre bridge.

Pakistan has agreed to build a service road instead, which will be used till the bridge is constructed. This road is being laid to ensure the corridor is opened to the general public on time.

Jeetendra Singh, vice president, Ceigal India Ltd, the firm building the corridor on the Indian side, said the 100-m bridge coming up on the Indian side was 80 per cent complete.

“We will be handing over the bridge and the road to the National Highways Authority of India well before the October 30 deadline,” he said.

Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the supply of gravel and sand had picked up after the intervention of CM Capt Amarinder Singh. “Ceigall India Ltd increased the workforce from 1,200 to 2,200 labourers after the supply of mining material improved. Work in now going on even during the night under the glare of temporary floodlights,” said Randhawa.

The ICP, which being built by the Land Ports Authority of India through a Mumbai- based firm, is coming up on 15 acres of land.

“The first phase of the ICP will be air-conditioned and disabled-friendly. The complex will include kiosks, cloakrooms, immigration and customs clearance facilities. In the second phase, which will come up on 35 acres, a hospital and a visitor’s gallery are being planned,” said an official.

Randhawa added that the design of the ICP had been inspired by Guru Nanak’s teachings of ‘Oneness of God’ and ‘Truthful Living’. “The two important elements of the ICP are the ‘Wall of Pride’ and the ‘Wall of Unity’, both of which will be depicting the Guru’s journeys (Udasis) in India, Pakistan and many other countries of the world,” he said.