Anantnag: A 38-metre-long bridge that was damaged during the devastating floods of 2014 here in Kulgam district is yet to be rebuilt, even though people living in more than half a dozen villages depended on it.
The vital bridge in Dembdello area near Yaripora was among more than half a dozen bridges washed away by the floods of September 2014.
While many other bridges have since been rebuilt, the Dembdello one remains incomplete. Sources in the district administration told Kashmir Reader that for more than three years there seemed to be no takers for the construction of the bridge.
“The hopes were pinned on different agencies for funding but nothing seemed to materialise,” a senior official in the district administration told Kashmir Reader, adding that it was only after 2017 that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) came forward and took over the construction.
The bridge is vital because it not only connects more than half a dozen villages, including Buchroo, Brazloo, Frisal, and Bolsoo, to each other but also connects some of these villages to the district headquarters.
“Besides, for some villages it was a link to the old National Highway in Bijbehara,” locals said, adding that commuters have been taking longer detours for more than half a decade now, costing them both time and money.
Sources in the PMGSY said that the two back to back
lockdowns since August last year have been a reason for delay in work on the project, which should have been completed by now otherwise.

Suhail A Shah