photo: Khanna / Hindustan Times / Getty Images/Chenab Bridge
Now home to the world's tallest railway bridge, India can boast not only a functional infrastructure solution but also a new tourist attraction that has been described as an unparalleled "architectural wonder." Taller than the Eiffel Tower, decades in the making, and the site of the International Yoga Day - what do we know about the Chenab Bridge?
The Chenab Bridge spans the river of the same name in the Reasi district, forming an important connection for India from Katra to Banihal. The 1,315-meter-long bridge sits 359 meters above the river - 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris - and is part of a massive project aimed at transforming the Kashmir valley into an area accessible to Indian railways.
According to the plan approved in 2003, the construction of the bridge was supposed to be completed in December 2009, but a year before that, work on the project was stopped due to the potential instability of the bridge and related risks. Work resumed two years later. Thanks to special steel, encouraged by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the bridge is explosion-proof and features an increased level of security.
Experts believe the Chenab Bridge will boost the agricultural and industrial sectors of the region. "Once we are connected by train with the rest of India, it will be a big boost to this industry, agriculture as well as fruit," said Anil Kumar Mehendru, vice president of the New Kashmir Fruit Association.
Local authorities, in particular, emphasize the importance of this steel arch as a tourist attraction and have announced plans to focus efforts on increasing the flow of visitors.
"The district has a very good potential to attract many more people to its historic and natural places. It has many well-known sites such as Shiv Khori, Salal Dam, and Bhimgarh Fort which offers it a huge opportunity to tap its potential by further developing these to bring them on the national tourism map,” said Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta.
In particular, in July last year, a festive event was organized on the Chenab Bridge in honor of the 9th International Yoga Day, during which a yoga session was held near the bridge against the picturesque and aesthetic background of natural landscapes, attended by dozens of people of various age groups.