Kasowal Bridge on River Ravi | 24 Apr 2020

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.

Source: HT