Ajoy Edwards Completes Concrete Bridge in Darjeeling with Local Help

EOI, Darjeeling, August 18, 2024 : Two bridges were inaugurated on Sunday at Baluwabas, about 11 km from Darjeeling, by Hamro Party leader Ajoy Edwards, who had been instrumental in taking up the construction work with help from residents of surrounding villages.

The concrete bridge was constructed by local people around the area, who contributed manual labor and materials for it. Edwards was one of the main people behind the construction of the bridge, contributing a major portion of the funds and materials for its construction.

“I feel happy that the project of the bridges was completed, as a lot of effort has been put in by the people, not only financially but also physically. The bridge was made without the help of the government and was completed within seven months or so,” Edwards said.

The construction of a 145-feet long concrete bridge had been finished some months ago, with the repair work of a 30-foot-long British-era hanging bridge completed only a few days ago. Both the bridges were formally inaugurated on Sunday. While the concrete bridge has been made for local people to commute daily, the hanging bridge has been repaired as a tourist attraction.

The concrete bridge will connect places like Chungthung, Bijanbari, and Soom Tea Garden, among other places, with Darjeeling town. The hanging bridge, which has wooden planks, has glass fitted in the middle portion so people can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the river below. This bridge only allows 10 people to walk on it at one time.

“Today, an ambulance could also cross the concrete bridge. This is an example of the help it will provide the people in commuting. Earlier, people had to travel all the way from Bijanbari, which is a much longer route, to reach here,” Edwards said, maintaining that they would continue with the other tourism-based projects he had announced earlier.

CPI (M) leader K. B. Watter said: “It was during the time of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council when our party was ruling in West Bengal that the foundation stone of the bridge had been laid by the PWD. Then DGHC Chairman Subash Ghisingh said he would build it, asking that funds for it be transferred to the DGHC. Due to this, work had stopped. The incomplete bridge only had pillars to show. Later on, another M.P. provided funds for it and laid the foundation stone. Work also started on it. However, the M.P. lost in the election, and no one funded the work, which is why it remained incomplete.”

He said their demand for the construction of the bridge with the administration and different leaders had fallen on deaf ears.