Chenab Bridge-The Arch of Modi’s New India

In the kaleidoscope of national progress, there are moments when infrastructure ceases to be merely functional and acquires the character of a developmental metaphor.

- TUSHI DEB

The Chenab Bridge-poised as the world's highest railway arch, towering above the windswept river in Jammu and Kashmir-is one such creation. It is not just a marvel of civil engineering but a monument to the Narendra Modi government's reimagining of nationalism and development.

For decades, national integration was spoken of in sentimental abstractions. From Jawaharlal Nehru's cautious constitutionalism to Indira Gandhi's populist stances, the promise of integrating Kashmir into the Indian mainstream remained just a promise, often deferred, frequently diluted. Projects were conceived and shelved. Political will waxed and waned. The mountain passes of Kashmir were treated more like buffers than bridges.

Then came a paradigm shift-bold, decisive, and deeply ideological. The abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 was not merely a constitutional manoeuvre. It was a political signal-a declaration that the time for half-measures had passed. But an act alone cannot sustain national unity. What was needed was physical integration, one that reshaped lived experience.

In the fog-laced valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, where once the echoes of uncertainty reverberated through the Pir Panjal, now rises a steel arc-the Chenab Bridge. Soaring 359 metres above the riverbed, it is not merely an engineering marvel; it is a resounding metaphor for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a united, connected, and assertive Bharat.