Four years later, Kartarpur Zero Line Bridge nears completion in Pakistan

Four years after the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, work on a bridge in Pakistan on the zero line of the corridor to connect with the Indian side is nearing completion. The corridor crosses the floodplains of the Ravi and is prone to flooding. India has already built a bridge over the zero line (the line that delimits the territory between two countries) to connect with the highway on the other side.

“The construction works are in their final phase. Only minor tasks need to be done. They are working on a war footing. Now, it depends on the governments of both countries when they will join hands with both sides,” said Inderjit Singh, member of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC).

Previously, work on the bridge was progressing at a snail’s pace. The pilgrimage through the corridor, a visa-free access for Indian pilgrims to the historic Sikh shrine Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, which is just 4 kilometers from the international border on the Pakistani side, remained suspended for five days as the area submerged due to the Ravi flooding in July. Subsequently, the neighboring country completed the work as a priority.

Although Pakistan spent billions of rupees on the Kartarpur corridor project, it delayed the bridge work for a long time. If Pakistan had completed the construction earlier, the pilgrimage would not have been disrupted by the floods.

Currently, pilgrims, after being checked by immigration personnel at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Dera Baba Nanak, are taken to the zero line in electric vehicles. Once the bridge is completed, the pilgrims will immediately reach near the border via an escalator, from where a Pakistani bus will take them to the ICP in Pakistan and then to the gurdwara.