Helpless Kathua village residents await construction of bridge across River Ravi

Disconnected from Jammu and Kashmir and dependent on Punjab, nearly 6000 residents of Kerian-Gandyal residing across the Ravi River are waiting for the construction of a bridge to connect them with Jammu and Kashmir.

Since independence, these residents have been facing various troubles due to the lack of a bridge across the river. Their village is also far from developed, has a poor education system, poor medical care and bad roads.

A majority of the people here are refugees from West Pakistan or of scheduled caste origin. During rains, these villages remain disconnected and people are forced to travel 55 kilometers through Punjab.

Executive Engineer of Public Works Department for Kathua, K.S. Nathyal said that the government has asked them to prepare a Detailed Project Report on the proposed bridge.

He said, "We have prepared the project report. A 1100-metre-long bridge with a four-kilometer-long approach road on both sides is proposed for an estimated cost of Rs 9710 lakh. The project report has also been submitted to higher authorities. Whenever the project is sanctioned, we will start the construction of the bridge over the Ravi River, connecting with Jammu and Kashmir.