*BRO to link Bhaderwah now: Dr Jitendra
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 24: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the Centre has succeeded in considerably reducing influence of terror outfit (Islamic State) among the Indian youth by taking series of initiatives to ensure that the youth were not attracted towards (the IS).
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating first cable-stayed bridge of North India at Basohli, Parrikar said the Centre was trying to reduce number of youths getting attracted towards the ideology of the IS, which has let loose a reign of terror in many countries including recent major attack in French capital, Paris killing over 130 people and injuring many others.
“Our efforts were aimed at reducing number of the youths inclined towards the IS. We have achieved considerable success. We will continue our efforts using different means to keep number of such youths to bare minimum,’’ he said.
Replying to a question on involvement of Army personnel in a suspected espionage case having links with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI, Parrikar said “we had to tighten the security (intelligence) which we have already done”.
In the light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two day visit to Russia and the impending defence deal, Parrikar said that India’s relationship with Russia is not new.
“We have never been away from Russia. Our relationship with Russia on the old contracts (Defence) were already there. Though new contracts were less but now they are taken care of,” the Defence Minister said.
While speaking at the function, he also said that this year the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completely come under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and its efficiency has increased.
“Earlier it was under twin control including the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Surface Transport but from this year, it has come completely under MoD. Now we don’t need to go to other Ministries to seek funds,” he said.
“This is the first BRO project that was finished before time,” Parrikar added and pointed out that the bridge located on Dunera-Basohli-Bhaderwah road has been completed one month in advance.
The Defence Minister said new and modern technology was being adopted in the construction of roads and tunnels in Jammu and Kashmir with 20-25 tunnels in the pipeline and a survey to be conducted on the Bhaderwah tunnel as well.
He gave assurance for construction of tunnel at Chagarpur, Bhaderwah on the demand raised by Minister of State in PMO and Independent Charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Lok Sabha member of the area.
Parrikar said the need of the hour was to provide 12 months connectivity to the areas affected by snowfall in winters.
“Apart from meeting demands of the people, these new routes would be of strategic importance too,’’ he said, adding that these new routes can also help in the fast induction of the Army and development of these areas.
Besides Parrikar and Dr Jitendra Singh, Health and Medical Education Minister Choudhary Lal Singh, Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, Western Army Commander Lt Gen KJ Singh and Director General BRO, Lt Gen RM Mittal were present at the inauguration ceremony among others.
The Army chief said the bridge holds very importance for the defence forces as it has given them an alternate road link to Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the country.
“Earlier, the Army had only road link i.e. the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway for transporting its men and material to Jammu and Kashmir from other parts of the country. With opening of the bridge, we have got the second road link,’’ he added.
Gen Suhag said the alternate road link was very significant from strategic point of view also and will give second road connectivity to the people and the Armed Forces after existing National Highway No. 44 (Jammu-Pathankot).
“Militarily, `Atal Setu’ is a strategic bridge on Pathankot-Doda axis, which will improve overall security calculus of the region during war and emergency situations,’’ Defence sources said.
Addressing the gathering, Minister of State in PMO with Independent Charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh said the bridge was “fittest tribute’’ to Atal Bihari Vajpayee as it was opened a day ahead of his birth anniversary.
“Tomorrow is Atal Ji’s birth anniversary and we have dedicated this bridge to him today. He had conceived idea of the bridge. The BRO has completed the construction one month in advance,’’ he said and lauded efforts of the executing agency.
“It was the combination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Manohar Parrikar in New Delhi and name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which has led to early completion of the bridge, a day before Atal Ji’s birthday,’’ the MoS in PMO said.
Recalling history behind the bridge for which the BJP had carried out lot of struggle including agitation and protests, which culminated into laying foundation stone of the bridge that finally came into existence today, Dr Jitendra Singh said it will lead to new road connectivity to Jammu and Kashmir and give boost to tourism and developmental activities.
On the call of Dr Singh, the Defence Minister asked the BRO to explore possibilities for construction of tunnel at Chagarpur in Bhaderwah.
Dr Singh announced that an exhibition of Basohli paintings will be held in New Delhi soon in collaboration with the Defence Ministry. He said documents have been submitted for declaration of Basohli as heritage town, which have been forwarded to UNESCO.
He lauded the role of Army on the borders—both during war and peacetimes.
The bridge thrown open this morning by Parrikar is North India’s first cable- stayed bridge and only the fourth of its kind in the country–that will provide close connectivity among the three states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
Described as an engineering marvel in this part of the country, the Basohli bridge is the fourth of its kind in India. The other three cable-stayed bridges are–Hooghly bridge at Kolkata, Naini bridge in Allahabad and Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai, officials said.
The bridge, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), is strategically important from defence point of view. It will reduce the distance of travel to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and help improve connectivity and tourism between the three States.
“It was the most challenging task before the BRO engineers to accomplish this task,” officials said.
“Not only the Indian engineers and consultants, the agencies from Canada, Japan, Spain and Switzerland had also been engaged for the completion of this prestigious project by the BRO authorities,” they said.
The work on the maiden cable-stay bridge of the State was started in September 2011 after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone in May 2011. It was built at the cost of Rs 145 crore.
The bridge was built on the demand of people of Basohli where over 22 villages were submerged in water and evacuated to other places after the construction of Ranjit Sagar dam.
The bridge is strategically important from the defence point of view as well.
With the bridge thrown open, connectivity and tourism among the three States are expected to improve.
Out of 592 meter span bridge, 350 meters is cable-stayed while rest is plain bridge.
“A typical cable-stayed bridge is a deck with one or two pylons erected above the piers in the middle of the span,” officials said, adding, “The cables are attached diagonally to the girder to provide additional supports.”
“The pylons form the primary load-bearing structure in these types of bridges. Large amounts of compression forces are transferred from the deck to the cables to the pylons and into the foundation,” they said.
The officials said these bridges have a low centre of gravity which makes them efficient in resisting earthquakes.
“Cable-stayed bridges provide outstanding architectural appearance due to their small diameter cables and unique overhead structure,” they added.
“The peculiarity of this bridge is that the main span and back span are balanced by cable and this bridge has been designed by Canadian Company, Infinity Engineers. IIT New Delhi had approved the design of this bridge,” they said.
Nearly 300 tones of specially designed cables are needed for the bridge which is being procured from Japan and Spain, they said.
“The span layout is symmetric (121 metre–350 metre-121 meter) with pylons positioned at the top of the river banks. Two inclined cable planes splay outwards from each pylon in a semi-fan configuration, connecting to the super-structure at 14-meter spacing in the main span and 10.3 meters in the side spans,” they said.
“Near the abutments, three sets of intermediate piers spaced at just over 20 meters form a secondary support system. When complete, the bridge will accommodate two lanes of traffic as well as two footpaths,” the officials said.
The bridge will act as a lifeline for people of Basohli and Bani tehsils and it will shorten their distance of travel to Punjab and HP.
It will also prove to be a boost to the socio-economic development of the region, in terms of an increase in tourism and commercial activities, and due to reduced distances to other important places like Dalhousie and Chamba, they said.
The construction of this bridge will help in promotion of tourism in the area as a large number of tourists visiting picnic spot of Dalhousie and other sightseeing places in neighbouring HP can also visit the Ranjit Sagar Dam at Basohli provided it is being developed as a tourist spot.
Moreover, it will also help in boosting pilgrimage tourism and other tourists to sight-seeing places in Basohli, Bani and Billawar tehsils.
This bridge is strategically important from defence point of view as well and it also has the second longest span in India.
It will also prove to be a boost to the socio-economic development of the region, in terms of an increase in tourism and commercial activities, and due to reduced distances to other important places like Dalhousie and Chamba, they said.
The construction of this bridge will help in promotion of tourism in the area as a large number of tourists visiting picnic spot of Dalhousie and other sightseeing places in neighbouring HP can also visit the Ranjit Sagar Dam at Basohli provided it is being developed as a tourist spot.
Moreover, it will also help in boosting pilgrimage tourism and other tourists to sight-seeing places in Basohli, Bani and Billawar tehsils.
This bridge is strategically important from defence point of view as well and it also has the second longest span in India.
“It was the most challenging task before the BRO engineers to accomplish this task,” they said.
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