Friendship Bridge between India, Nepal over river Mechi now fully operational

Prashant acharya, EOI, SILIGURI, JANUARY 2, 2023:  The new bridge over river Mechi along the Indo-Nepal border in Panitanki is in full operation from the New Year’s Day, January 1, 2023. The bridge was constructed two years ago, but was not operated fully.

The six-lane highway and the ‘Friendship Bridge’ constructed over river Mechi has now been opened for four wheeler light and heavy vehicles. Two- and three-wheeler vehicles will have to use the old bridge over which the traffic load has lessened after the diversion of four-wheeler vehicles along the new bridge. Ravi Moktan, a cab driver from Darjeeling, said: "It's a wonderful gift on the occasion of New Year's Day. It will be easy for us now to cross the border."

On December 21, a bilateral meeting of customs and security officers of Nepal and India was held in Panitanki where the counterparts agreed to make the bridge operational. Chief of Mechi Customs Office Ram Prasad Pathak and Deputy Commissioner of Naxalbari Customs Division Lha Tshering Sherpa signed the agreement. With loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank, the Indian government constructed the six-lane friendship bridge and around 500 metres of the access road.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba had signed an agreement to construct the 575-metre long friendship bridge over the Mechi six years ago