Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today dedicated to the public 44 newly constructed Border Roads Organisation (BRO) bridges across the country, out of which 10 bridges are located in Jammu & Kashmir. The Defence Minister was accompanied on the occasion by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, while Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim as well as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir joined the ceremony online. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Naravane and Director General Border Road Organisation (BRO) Harpal Singh physically accompanied Rajnath Singh and Dr Jitendra Singh. Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh appreciated DG BRO for timely completion of the bridges. He said, these bridges will improve connectivity in the far-flung areas of the North Eastern, Northern and Westrern sectors. Rajnath Singh said, the newly constructed bridges will fulfill the transport and logistic requirements of Armed Forces throughout the year. He said, inauguration of 44 bridges in one go is a significant achievement and will also fulfill the aspirations of the local people. On the occasion, Rajnath Singh also laid the Foundation Stone of Nechiphu Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh in North East. Dr Jitendra Singh lauded the Border Road Organisation (BRO) for their professional commitment and noted that the BRO had continued its work despite COVID pandemic. He said, he was particularly delighted that 10 out of 44 newly constructed bridges were located in Jammu & Kashmir and out of these, two bridges happened to be in Kathua, in his Parliamentary Constituency. Dr Jitendra Singh, while further substantiating his observations, said that on June 24th, in the midst of the COVID-crisis, the BRO had thrown open two important newly constructed bridges in his constituency, namely the Devika Bridge in Udhampur and the Puneja Bridge in Bhaderwah. In this way, he said, in the last few years, BRO had constructed nearly 200 bridges in the region including the state-of-the-art Atal Setu Bridge in Basohli. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, not only Jammu & Kashmir received high priority and central funding for various projects, but also all the projects including those of roads and bridges have moved on despite the constraints of COVID. Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that on July 31st this year, he had launched 28 Central PMGSY Phase-II road projects in far-flung areas of Udhampur-Kathua-Doda, while on September 30th he had dedicated to the people of his constituency, 23 completed Central PMGSY road projects worth Rs. 73 Cr. The work on Katra-Delhi Expressway Corridor has also begun and is likely to be completed in three years, he added.
