Bandipora, Residents of north Kashmir’s Bandipora and Sumbal divisions say they are facing lot of inconvenience due to administration’s failure to construct two vital bridges on the Bandipora-Sumbal road.
According to them the construction of the bridges is a decades long demand that remains unfulfilled.
The 60-kilometer road, which connects Bandipora to Srinagar, is accident-prone, narrow, and curvy stretches, especially upto Sumbal.
The road passes through Saderkoot, overlooking the scenic Wular Lake, and has long relied on two temporary belly bridges, one at Naninara in Sumbal and another near Dachina in the Bandipora division.
“It feels like we are still living in the 60s. We have always demanded better connectivity. Forget highway status, our administration has not even managed to construct two small bridges on such an important road,” Ghulam Ahmad Bhat, a local resident said..
Locals say apart from occasional repairs, the bridges remain in a “poor and unsafe” condition, forcing commuters to wait for their turn to cross to first allow a coming vehicles to pass.On several occasions, over the years, the bridges had to be blocked for traffic due to safety reasons.
“One has to wait for the arriving vehicles to clear out before crossing,” said Iqtidar Ahmad. “If there is a rush or traffic jam, it becomes a complete mess,” he added.
Sameer Wani, another resident, said the problem has persisted for decades. “The bridge in Bandipora division alone has disrupted smooth traffic flow for years. Vehicles have to cross one by one because of the bottleneck,” he said.
Residents have accused the administration of not heeding to their repeated pleas, leaving them in despair as the delay stretches year after year.
The people living near Naninara are distressed, as the bridge over Jhelum tributary is located in relatively populated village area. “The loud clanking sound of metal on the shaky bridge disturbs our sleep,” said a local resident. “We live in constant fear that a heavy vehicle could cause a serious accident,” he added.
Even after minor repair work was carried out recently, there is is no clarity on construction of a permanent bridge.
“We do not even hear anything about construction of the permanant bridge,” Afzal Wani, another resident said.
Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) R&B Bandipora, Shahid Saleem said that the Dachina bridge in Bandipora division comes under the department’s “widening project for Bandipora-Sumbal road”. He said that the work for constructing 17 meter bridge has “already been allotted. The AEE assured that the construction will “start this year.”
The official for Sumbal division could not be reached despite several attempts, but locals alleged although tenders were issued years back, there is “no clarity from the department,” on fresh developments.
