Bridge remains incomplete in Handwara

Nearly a decade after floods damaged a bridge in the Baki Aker area of Handwara in Kupwara district, people await the construction of a new bridge in the area.
The lack of a proper bridge poses threat to the lives of nearly 15,000 people from four villages, who use the unsafe bridge for their daily commute.
Adil Ahmad, a resident of the area said that the bridge is the shortest route to essential facilities, connecting the village to the sub-district headquarters Handwara, located on the other side of the Talri stream.
“All essential facilities like schools and healthcare are on the other side of the bridge, and people currently use the unsafe bridge to reach there,” he said.
The locals said the absence of a concrete bridge creates hardships for the residents and they accused the authorities of being indifferent to their miseries.
In 2014, flash floods damaged a pillar of the existing bridge, suspending traffic over it for several months. They said they approached the Roads and Buildings Department, Handwara division, many times for its repair, as locals had to take a long route via Wadipora to reach Baki Aker.
“The R&B department repaired the old bridge but failed to construct the new one, much to the disappointment of the people,” locals said.
The Assistant Executive Engineer for the R&B department at Handwara, Farooq Ahmad, admitted that people were using the unsafe bridge and assured that construction on the new bridge would commence next month.
“The project has already been approved under NABARD with an estimated cost of around Rs 12 crores, and tenders will be allotted soon. We are already in the process of allotting the work in the next few weeks,” he said.