JHANG, June 21: The construction of a boat-bridge near the over a century old Riwaz Bridge over river Chenab appears to be the only immediate solution to the traffic congestions on Multan-Sargodha-Islamabad National Highway.

The action committee of an organisation, consisting of nazims, councillers, lawyers, journalists and farmers, has suggested in its latest report that the construction of the boat-bridge will at least temporarily resolve the issue of frequent traffic jams occurring on either side of the single-lane Riwaz Bridge on the National Highway.

Because of frequent traffic jams on the rail-cum-road bridge thousands of daily commuters and motorists have to experience agony of waiting in long rows.

A boat-bridge was built four years ago, when the dilapidated Riwaz Bridge had to be repaired to avoid any accident. The boat bridge built jointly by the district administration, army and the railways remained in use for about eight months during winter and pre-summer season. During the period, there were no jams on the highway as most of the traffic would cross over the shrunken river bed quickly due to the small length of boat-bridge, (one fourth of the Riwaz Bridge).

The boat-bridge was used by all sorts of traffic except the long vehicles such as trailers which were not allowed to cross it. At that time, the boat-bridge was used for two-way traffic due to closure of Riwaz Bridge.

The report suggests the boat-bridge can prove more beneficial if it is used for one-way traffic, with the Riwaz Bridge catering the vehicles coming from the other side.

According to the report, the water-level in the river remains low for ten months (September-June), making it safe to use the boat-bridge. Only in July and August the river swells rendering the boat-bridge useless, it adds.