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36 Punjab villages threaten to boycott polls for a bridge across the Ravi

The demand for a bridge over the Ravi river to open up 36 villages in Narot Mehra block of this backward border district has snowballed into an election issue, with residents of the area threatening to boycott the Lok Sabha poll if the bridge was not built.

Agitated residents from the villages turned up in strength on the banks of the Ravi near Kolian village on Republic Day and resolved not to vote in the election if the much-promised and much-delayed bridge was not built.

While confirming the boycott resolution, official sources said the central government had sanctioned the bridge on the eve of the 1996 Lok Sabha election and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, while launching the election campaign of party candidate Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, had laid the foundation stone near Kathlore village in January 1996. Bhinder is seeking re-election for the fifth successive Lok Sabha term from Gurdaspur, and she is being opposed by actor Vinod Khanna of the BJP.

But the foundation stone was washed away in floods the same year and is untraceable, the sources added.

The first instalment of the Rs 20 million sanctioned for the bridge had already been spent on survey, soil testing and establishment expenditure, and not a penny has since been allocated for the bridge, which was then estimated to cost around Rs 40 crore, according to the sources.

Mukherjee had also laid the foundation stone for another bridge over the Beas river to connect Gurdaspur district with Hoshiarpur. The foundation stone of this bridge was laid on the bank of the Beas near Shala Pattan and the bridge, if completed, would have connected the area with Mukerian town of Hoshiarpur district.

Mukerian is part of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency. The foundation stone of this Rs 43 crore bridge was, however, intact, the sources added.

This is not the first time people in this border district have threatened to boycott elections. Residents of 12 villages situated across the Ravi in Barial Bulge, had boycotted the 1977 election, demanding a bridge over the Ravi.

UNI

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