By: Mahesh Chander Sharma
Mandi (April 14): For the last more than two months thousands of residents of five panchayats of Sundernagar block in district Mandi have been facing inconvenience as the main foot bridge connecting these panchayats with the national highway (the shortest connecting passage) has been lying unrepaired.
As per villagers, the main rope of the hanging bridge (which was constructed 
by the forest department) snapped on February 6, 2011, but the authorities instead of repairing it immediately, closed it for public use and due to it more than 20,000 residents of five panchayats of Batwara, Dhawal, Haraboi, Dhanyara and Serikothi have been facing problems.
More than 500 students who used this bridge daily to go to Government Senior Secondary School, Dhawal, and even hundreds of people who have either visit Ayurvedic Dispensary, Dhawal, or to the Veterinary Dispensary along with their animals either have to cross the Saul Khud or use the road rout after covering 10 km.
According to Sohan Lal Thakur, former Congress MLA from Sundernagar, and the administration could not restore the main foot bridge for last more than two months. He said that earlier this bridge was damaged in a similar manner in year 2006 but was immediately restores within seven days. He accused the BJP government of giving step-motherly treatment to Dhawal panchayat.
According to Forest officials, the foot bridge would be immediately restored as money has been sanctioned for the repair work.
