Geography
Kasowal Bridge on River Ravi
- 24 Apr 2020
- 3 min read
Why in News
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed a permanent bridge on the Ravi river to connect Kasowal enclave in Punjab along the India - Pakistan border to the rest of the country.
- The 484-meter bridge was built under the Project Chetak of BRO.
Key Points
- Project Chetak
- This project of the BRO was raised in June 1962 at Dehradun for construction of Joshimath-Malari-Rinkin road.
- In 1980, the project was re-raised for expanding and improving the road networks and ditch-cum-bunds.
- The jurisdiction of the project is spread across the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.
- Ravi River
- It is one of the five tributaries of the Indus River that give the Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) its name. Other tributaries are: Jhelum, Chenab, Beas and Sutlej.
- Transboundary River: It rises in the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh (India) and flows to the Pakistani border and along it for more than 80 km before entering Pakistan’s Punjab province.
- Sharing of Water: The Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 allocated the water of the Eastern rivers - Sutlej, Beas and Ravi - to India for unrestricted use. Pakistan has rights of unrestricted use of the waters of the Indus and its western tributaries (Jhelum and Chenab).
- India has also been permitted to make from the Western River, domestic non-consumptive uses, uses for run-of-the river hydroelectric plants and specified agricultural use and construction of storage works.
- Important Projects: Ujh Multipurpose Project (River Ujh is a tributary of the Ravi), Shahpurkandi Dam Project
Border Roads Organisation
- It was conceived and raised in 1960 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for coordinating the speedy development of a network of roads in the North and the North Eastern border regions of the country.
- It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.
- It has diversified into a large spectrum of construction and development works comprising airfields, building projects, defence works and tunneling and has endeared itself to the people.
