Indian Army connects last village on LoC in J&K with bridge as Independence Day gift

The 77th Independence Day turned out to be very special and joyful for the residents of Danna, the last village on the Line of Control. Located in Jammu and Kashmir’s Machil sector, Kupwara district, this small village which is across the Machil nullah is now connected with a 115-foot-long bridge.

Interestingly, the bridge across the nullah has been named Bhagat Bridge in the memory of late Major Bhagat Singh. A Veer Chakra awardee, he sacrificed his life defending the Machil sector in the 1965 war. In fact, Danna village is also popularly called as Bhagat village.

The Army made locals a part of the whole inauguration event which was held on Tuesday. They dedicated the bridge to the villagers as an Independence Day gift and it was inaugurated by Sepoy Mian Gul Khan. Khan is a local resident of the place and is a 90-year-old veteran of the 1971 war.

During the event senior army officials and local dignitaries, as well as residents from seven nearby villages all of whom will be greatly benefited by this bridge were present.

Sharing details about the bridge, an Army official said that it was constructed with painstaking efforts of the Army engineers who toiled tirelessly for two months even during incessant rains and adverse conditions. The objective of the Army was to help the locals from the problems they faced due lack of road and bridge across the nullah.

An official talking to the media said: “This bridge stands testament to the Army’s commitment to the people of J&K be it defending the borders or supporting them towards building a prosperous and peaceful Kashmir. It will alleviate the challenges faced by locals due to the lack of connectivity across the nullah. It will provide them with a means of sending their children to school and facilitating the transportation of the sick and elderly. Additionally, the bridge will attract tourists to visit this pristine area.”

Apart from this with the bridge coming up, the Army will be able to construct bunkers to enable the locals to seek refuge during firing across the LoC. Earlier this was not possible because of lack of connectivity.

In the past due to heavy rains, students and people could not cross the nullah. The village does not have a primary school and parents preferred keeping their children at home rather than risk crossing the nullah. Also, tourists would come but couldn’t visit the villages on the other side of the nullah. Elaborating on this a local said that earlier tourists used to leave without visiting the village but with this bridge they hope now tourists will do so and this will help locals earn their livelihood.

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