New Delhi: In a relief to the residents of Lachen in North Sikkim, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened the 360-feet-long bailey suspension bridge over Teesta River in Munshithang near Chungthang town for traffic. The 86 Road Construction Company (RCC) of 758 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF), under Project Swastik, commenced the construction of the bridge in October 2019 and completed it in January 2020.
The approach roads to the Teesta River bridge have also been constructed. The bridge will give impetus to tourism and facilitate the movement of logistics for the Armed Forces deployed in forward areas, an official statement from the Ministry of Defence said.
In June 2019, a steel bridge of 180-feet span at the same location was completely damaged due to a massive cloud burst resulting in severing the lines of communication in North district of Sikkim. The connectivity was kept open by routing the traffic through restricted Army land.
The news comes just days after the BRO inaugurated a strategically important bailey bridge in Upper Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh, nearly 10 months after five personnel were killed during its construction. The 180-foot-long bridge over the Subansiri river on the Nacho-Tama Chung Chung Road, inaugurated on March 18, will facilitate troop movement to forward locations along the India-China border.