COLOMBO – India on Wednesday (21) commissioned its second Bailey Bridge, a 120-foot structure, this time on the B-492 Kandy–Ragala Road, restoring a key transport link in Sri Lanka’s central hills as part of New Delhi’s post-Cyclone Ditwah reconstruction assistance.
Built under India’s US$450 million reconstruction and rehabilitation assistance to Sri Lanka, the bridge was jointly inaugurated by India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Satyanjal Pandey, and Sri Lankan Member of Parliament Manjula Suraweera Arachchi.
The newly opened structure reconnects communities cut off by landslides and infrastructure damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah, re-establishing an important corridor for passenger movement, the transport of essential goods, and the revival of local economic activity in the region.
On January 10, India commissioned a 100-foot Bailey Bridge at the Kandy–Ragala Road (KM-21), which was inaugurated by India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, together with Sri Lanka’s Deputy Ministers of Transport and Highways, Education and Higher Education.
The bridges form part of India’s broader support to Sri Lanka following Cyclone Ditwah, which caused widespread damage to roads and bridges, particularly in hilly areas where landslides severely disrupted connectivity.
Officials said the restoration works were being implemented in close coordination with the Sri Lankan Army and the Road Development Authority, enabling rapid installation of temporary yet durable infrastructure to restore mobility in affected regions.
India is expected to construct additional Bailey bridges in the coming weeks as part of the next phase of its assistance program, aimed at fully restoring road connectivity across cyclone-hit areas.
-ENCL
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