Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday inaugurated two strategically important bridges in Kathua and Samba districts that will help in smooth mobility of security forces in the border areas.
The bridges, near the International Border, have been builtunder Project Sampark, braving shelling and weather vagaries during the monsoonseason, officials said. The 1,000-metre Ujhbridge in Kathua is the longestconstructed by the Border Roads Organisation and it uses the precast segmenttechnology, a defence spokesman said.
Built at a cost of Rs 50 crore, the bridge is onParole-Korepannu-Rajpura road over Ujhriver.
The 617-metre Basantarbridge in Samba has been built at acost of Rs 41.7 crore on Rajpura–Madwal–Pangadur–Phulpur road over Basantarriver.
The bridges will provide smooth connectivity for residentsduring the monsoon season and are vital for mobility of security forces in theborder areas, the spokesman said.
The Defence Minister said roads and bridges are lifelines ofa nation and play a vital role in the development of remote areas. He praisedthe BRO for working under hostile conditions in difficult areas, away fromtheir families.
Reiterating Central government’s commitment to improveconnectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, he said Prime Minister NarendraModi isregularly monitoring the progress of these projects and funds are being madeavailable accordingly.
Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State in PMO, too underlinedthe development programme of the Central government and PM Modi’s steps to boost connectivity in thestate.
Army chief Gen BipinRawat, BRO Director General Lt GenHarpal Singh, other senior army, civil and police officers attended the event.