NEW DELHI: The first Bailey Bridge built under India’s assistance package to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka has been opened for traffic, restoring a key road link between the island nation’s Central and Uva provinces, the Indian mission in Colombo said on Sunday.The 100-foot bridge was constructed by the Indian Army and inaugurated on Saturday by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, along with Sri Lanka’s deputy minister of transport Prasanna Gunasena and deputy minister of education and higher education Madhura Senevirathne. The Indian High Commission said the bridge re-establishes an essential transport corridor for passenger movement, the supply of essential goods and local economic activity in the region.‘Restoring connectivity – the first Bailey Bridge under Indian Assistance Package for Post-Ditwah Reconstruction opened for traffic,’ The Indian High Commission said in a post on X.The mission said four Bailey Bridge sets, weighing about 228 tonnes in total, were airlifted to Sri Lanka aboard four C-17 Globemaster aircraft, along with an engineering task force of 48 Indian Army personnel. Over 15 additional Bailey Bridges are scheduled to be constructed in the coming weeks to restore connectivity across affected areas.According to the Indian mission, the bridge marks the start of the implementation of India’s $450 million reconstruction package announced after Cyclone Ditwah struck Sri Lanka in November, triggering widespread flooding and landslides and killing more than 600 people. The package, announced during external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s visit, includes $350 million in concessional lines of credit and $100 million in grants, reported news agency PTI.Another Bailey Bridge on the Kandy–Ragala Road is expected to be installed soon. India had launched Operation Sagar Bandhu on November 28 to provide relief, recovery assistance and restore connectivity in Sri Lanka, including the supply of medicines and the setting up of field hospitals.India is also assisting Sri Lanka Railways in the reconstruction of the cyclone-damaged Northern Railway Line from Mahawa Junction to Omanthai. The project, to be executed by IRCON International Limited, includes new bridges and a modern signalling system, with services expected to be fully restored before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year on April 14, as per PTI.
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