Swan River washes away temporary bridge in Ropar, 100 villages disconnected

Locals would present person to instrumentality a 50-km detour to scope Anandpur Sahib

The impermanent span implicit Swan River successful Algran colony washed distant owed to flash floods.

After dense rains successful Himachal, the Swan River was successful spate successful Ropar territory today. The stream washed distant the impermanent span — built wrong the riverbed astatine Algran village. As a result, astir 100 villages successful the country person been chopped disconnected from the main Anandpur Sahib-Garhshankar road. Over the adjacent 3 monsoon months, villagers volition person to instrumentality a 50 km detour done Nangal to question betwixt Anandpur Sahib and Ropar earlier the impermanent span is reconstructed.

As the stream swelled, galore radical from the adjoining villages gathered adjacent the washed‑away impermanent bridge. Kuldeep, a section husbandman who was contiguous connected the riverbank, said that each monsoon the stream it washes away, cutting radical disconnected from the main Anandpur Sahib-Garhshankar road. The students who be assemblage successful Anandpur Sahib person to look the ordeal of traveling an other 50 km to scope their colleges. “The pucca span implicit the Swan River has been lying damaged for much than 2 years now,” helium added.

The villagers said that, to date, the stream has not breached its banks successful this area. However, during the monsoon season, radical surviving on the riverbank ever fearfulness that it mightiness overflow and flood their houses and fields.

The span was damaged and closed to postulation successful July 2023. Its instauration pillars — erstwhile the lifeline for astir 100 villages — present prevarication afloat exposed successful the riverbed. Locals blasted amerciable mining on the stream for the bridge’s structural failure. They person been protesting against illicit mining activities and demanding contiguous its repair.

Sources accidental that amerciable mining was rampant successful the Swan and Sutlej riverbeds wrong the Anandpur Sahib Assembly constituency. As a result, the pillars of the span implicit the Sutlej were besides damaged. The drainage section is present constructing embankments to support the span from monsoon-related damage.

The PWD has floated a tender of Rs 17 crore tender for the repair of the span implicit the Swan River. According to sources, enactment connected the span volition statesman aft the monsoon season.

Once known arsenic the “Sorrow of Una” owed to its destructive floods successful Himachal Pradesh, the stream has present go a occupation successful Punjab. While the Himachal authorities has channelled the stream agelong successful its area, the astir 40 km agelong — earlier it merges with the Sutlej adjacent Anandpur Sahib remains — unchannelled successful Punjab. This causes flash floods successful the stream during monsoons, damaging crops crossed the Nangal and Anandpur Sahib subdivisions of Ropar district