The biridge shortens the distance to Ropar city by about 9km.

It is a play area, a morning walkers' delight and the best place in town to fly kites. It was meant to be an important bridge in Punjab.Built at a cost of Rs 64 crore, the bridge over the river Sutlej in Ropar has been ready for three months but has not been opened to traffic - and won't be, until a VVIP finds time for a grand launch.Sources say Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari was a candidate, but he has not been able to match the state government's schedule.The one-km long bridge shortens the distance to Ropar city by about 9km. Why it should remain off-limits for vehicles, despite traffic jams in the area, is baffling to residents."We have urged the administration so many times, but they don't listen. This is an accident prone zone, the condition of old road is bad and this bridge could have shortened our journey to city, schools and hospital," said a local dhaba owner.Unused and misused, the bridge is now a source of politics. The opposition Congress alleges that the state's Akali Dal-BJP government does not want to pass up a chance to take credit for a project funded when the UPA was in power at the Centre."The entire fund for this bridge was granted during Dr Manmohan Singh's government but we don't want any credit. The public knows it... All we want is the bridge to be opened soon," said Kuljit Singh Nagra, a Congress leader.The ruling party claims that the bridge will soon be functional but does not specify when."The opposition has nothing else to do but to criticize us and create confusion among the masses about the development works done during last nine years of Akali rule," said union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the daughter-in-law of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.Until the bridge can be inaugurated older bridges and bumpy roads will have to do for commuters.