Border Road Organisation (BRO)does it again. Ahead of schedule, it completed Kasowal Bridge in Punjab which has connected the approx 35sq Km Kasowal enclave to the mainland.
Earlier, every year it was connected with a Pontoon Bridge which was dismantled ahead of monsoons as due to the flow of River Ravi it would get washed away.
This according to the BRO, meant that several thousands of acres of fertile land across the Ravi was not being used by the farmers during the monsoon season.
Why was this bridge needed?
A Class 70 bridge was needed to give all-weather connectivity to the enclave n to help the local as well as the Army populations.
The construction of a 484 long permanent Bridge was not only conceived but also planned by the BRO.
This Bridge is connecting the Kasowal enclave with the rest of India and has been built by 141 Drain Maintenance Coy of 49 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) of Project Chetak of BRO.
Costing around Rs 1789 lakh, excluding the approaches, there are 16 cells which are of 30.25 mtr length each on the Bridge.
The plan was to open the Kasowal Bridge in time for Vaisakhi, for enabling the farmers to transport their harvest to the mandi in comfort. However, due to the lockdown announced on March 23, all the work had to be stopped.
However, to ensure that the project gets completed ahead of monsoons, BRO approached the Punjab government and Gurdaspur district administration seeking permission to resume work.
Earlier this month, Lt Gen Harpal Singh, Director General Border Roads discussed the matter with the Punjab government, and the next day permission was given by the SDM Dera Baba Nanak.
Importance of the Kasowal Enclave
A book titled `1971 War: Battle of Dera Baba Nanak’ by Maj Gen Sukhwant Singh, describes Dera Baba Nanak (DBN) as a small town which lies about 30 miles north of Amritsar and south of the Ravi.
In the book the author says that there are two strategically important enclaves on the north and south of the Ravi and they belong to India and Pakistan respectively.
On the Indian side the enclave is called Kasowal, and the one in Pakistan is known as Jassar or DBN.
Operations can be launched against the Jassar or Narowal fortress from Kasowal Enclave which provides a sizable bridgehead across the Ravi.