PULWAMA: Rebuilding work on the vital Rohmoo Bridge in Pulwama district, washed away in the devastating floods of 2014, remains far from completion as the work has been moving at snail’s pace ever since it began in 2015.
When the bridge, built over Romshi Nallah, was washed away in 2014, it has handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) for rebuilding.
An estimated Rs 21.5 crore was earmarked for the reconstruction of the 150-meter-long bridge, which connects dozens of villages in Pulwama district to each other and also to the neighbouring Budgam district.
Locals complain that the work on the bridge has been erratic. “The overall pattern has been that they work for some days and abandon it for months. In all these years they have only managed to erect a few pillars,” said Abdul Rehman, a resident of the area.
The bridge is the only way for hundreds of people living in villages such as Rohmoo, Goose, Mitrigam, Tujan, Kamrazipora, Thokerpora and others to reach the Pulwama district headquarters.
Moreover, the people of Pulwama are also dependent on the bridge if they have to reach Budgam district, which is quite often, as two major shrines –Chrar Sharief and Pakherpora – are located there.
“The devotees have to travel all the way to Srinagar and then to Budgam to reach these shrines,” the residents said. “Besides, it is a daily grind for all of us to tread the diversion created on the bridge, which is unsafe and also causes pollution in the area because it is not macadamized,” they added.
JKPCC officials maintain that the bridge will be completed by the end of this year. Deputy General Manager of the JKPCC for Pulwama, Masood Gangoo, said that a substructure has already been completed.
“The superstructure will need 550 metric tonnes of material. The glitch was that trolleys were not being allowed to ply in the area,” Gangoo said, adding that the issue has been sorted out with the traffic police department and the material will soon start arriving.
He said that the bridge will be completed by October or November at the latest.

Suhail A Shah