Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, May 2: With tendering process of much talked about 1210 metre span Kerrian-Gandyal bridge on river Ravi in Kathua district over, the construction work on one of the prestigious inter-state bridges connecting J&K with other parts of country will begin soon.
According to official sources, the bridge will be completed in three years period after the date of start of the work. It will not only link the two secluded Panchayats of Kerrian and Gandyal falling in Kathua district which are on the another side of Ravi river towards Punjab, by shortening their distance with their home district Kathua but also serve as a lifeline for the people of the area.
The bridge will shorten the distance of two Panchayats in reaching Kathua by 40 kilometers as well as from Jammu to Amritsar, Punjab by two hours.
The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari along with Union Minister in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh who also represents the Kathua -Doda Parliamentary constituency in June last year. But the work was delayed as no bidder came forward during the first bidding held ending last year creating a bottleneck in its timely construction.
Sources said as per official procedure and rules there must be three months gap from first bidding and calling of fresh tenders and as this period was over the concerned agency JKPCC which has been assigned the job of constructing the bridge called the fresh tenders. During the tenders on April 29 three bidders came forward with S P Singla which has constructed the giant inter-State Basohli -Dannera bridge came the lowest by giving a bid of Rs 107 crore, said Kuldeep Singh Nathyal DGM JKPCC Kathua.
The total Project cost of the bridge was Rs 159 crore while the tendering cost was Rs 136 crore. However, the lowest bid came at Rs 107 crore there by saving about Rs 40 crore of State exchequer.
Besides, the bridge an approach road of 7.39 kilometres will also be constructed, said Nathyal.
He said the tender will be sent to Chief Engineer, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for clearance and once the same is received the work will be started on the bridge.
The Government has to seek approval from Union Ministry after the cost exceeds Rs 100 crore as per the procedure and rules. It may be recalled that Dr Jitendra Singh took keen interest in getting the bridge approved from Union Government as he had made a promise with the people of the area during his election campaigning in 2014.
Talking to Excelsior, Dr Singh said that the bridge will serve as a life line for the people of the area and it will not only save the people of two Panchayats of Kerrian and Gandyal of covering over 40 km distance in reaching Kathua via Pathankot but will also shorten the distance between Jammu and Amritsar by over two hours. He said moreover during the traffic jam at Lakhanpur the bridge will serve as an alternative road to the people in reaching their destinations.
Dr Singh said this will be another major project in his Constituency after Biotech Park at Ghati Kathua and inter State bridge at Basohli which was commissioned last year.
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