Anantnag: A vital bridge, that would have connected dozens of villages in Srinagar periphery to the old national highway, lies incomplete more than thirteen years after it was sanctioned.
The 120-meter-long bridge in the Pandrethan area, on the outskirts of Srinagar city, was aimed at connecting Lasjan, Soibugh, Padshahibagh, and some other areas to the old national highway.
“Besides, the bridge would have given easy access to some villages, on the Pampore side of Jhelum, to Pulwama district,” an official in the Pulwama district administration told Kashmir Reader.
The bridge was sanctioned in the year 2009 and was then handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) for the execution of work. The work on the bridge began three years later in 2012 and was expected to be completed in a time frame of around three more years.
“However, 10 years have passed since and the bridge is nowhere near completion,” the official in Pulwama district administration told Kashmir Reader, “The work has been abandoned for some years now and it does not look like it would be completed any time soon,”
The inordinate delay in the construction has left the locals frustrated and fuming. “We were heavily banking on this project to save a little time as well as money on travel, as it would have given us better access to not only Srinagar but to other parts of the valley as well. But it is taking an awful lot of time,” a resident of the Lasjan area told Kashmir Reader.
Many residents, Kashmir Reader talked to, also lament the slow pace of work on the bridge. “We have to take detours to reach Srinagar and other parts. This bridge would have been a lifesaver, in times of emergencies,” the locals said.
Sources in the JKPCC said that the project met a delay in the initial phases because its site had to be shifted from near GB Pant Hospital to the present location. “The delay added to the cost of the project,” the highly placed source said.
He said that despite the cost escalation more than 80 percent of the work stands done already and the rest needs fresh funding to be executed. “We have prepared a detailed project report which has been submitted to the authorities, but it has been a while since the submission as well. There has been no headway,” the source said.
He expressed hope that the issue will be addressed soon by the higher authorities.
Efforts to contact General Manager JKPCC, Showkat Ahmad Dar, could not materialise.

Suhail A Shah