Pilibhit: In the era of metro trains and other motor vehicles, which has become the lifeline of the salaried class, the livelihoods of more than two dozen villages in the trans-Sharda region still depend on two ferry-boats to cross Sharda River. Though the district authorities set up a pontoon bridge every year, but it is accessible only between November and June as the incessant rainfall renders it useless during the monsoon season.The trans-Sharda region connects Pilibhit with Nepal at one side and district Kheri on the other. According to the nayab tehsildar of Puranpur, Anurag Singh, the total land area of this part is stretched around 90,000 hectares, which is populated by over 50,000 villagers.“The operation of boats is withdrawn whenever water level increases in Sharda River due to heavy rains or the discharge of water from Banwasa barrage,” he said.Though the administration has been unsuccessful in finding a contractor to start operation of ferry boats, the efforts are still on to make substitute arrangements. Despite this, the villagers still opt to travel in these two private boats at their own risk, he added.According to PWD officials, the pontoon bridge is not permitted for heavy vehicles even for the grain or sugarcane laden tractor-trolleys. This poses additional hurdles before the farmers in carrying their agricultural produce to mandi for procurement.“The pontoon bridge is set up with 20 to 25 pontoons (floats) that provide 60 to 70 meters long and 4 meters wide bridge. As the impacted load of a crop laden trolley with tractor is feared to immerse the floats deep in river water, it can damage the bridge”, said SP Singh, the assistant engineer of PWD.

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